


Time Not Wasted

by AngellaCrickett



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Character Death, Death Related PTSD, Everyone Protects Mia, Everyone is Involved in Theatre, F/F, F/M, Felicity Friends with Sara and Ava, Finds Her A Century Later, Friends as Found Family, Laurel as the Witch Aunt, Magic AU, Monster Hunt Related Torture, Not Really Character Death, Oliver Lost Felicity, Oliver is a Good Father, Reincarnation, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, Vampire AU, Vampires, Witches, fated meeting, mystical AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2020-09-26 20:49:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 65,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngellaCrickett/pseuds/AngellaCrickett
Summary: A long time ago Felicity Smoak was happily married to mythical husband Oliver Queen and newborn daughter. Then their family is torn apart by death and tragedy. 100 years later, Oliver is set to go through high school once more, this time with daughter Mia, brother Tommy, and witchy sister-in-law Laurel by his side. None of them are prepaired to run into their Felicity, a technicaly inclined girl who has no memory of her previous life and family. Will families be reunited or will they be shattered beyond repair?





	1. Endings

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! It brings me joy to share my work with you all!

**Hello! Wow! I can’t believe that I am finally doing this. I started and stopped writing this so many times, but with the final season approaching I figured that it was now or never! **

**I love Mia Smoak-Queen, and really wanted to explore the dynamic between her and her parents. This, plus my love of magic and mystery led to this indulgence of plot and characters! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey!**

* * *

_Felicity_

_"Help!" I screamed, before my head was shoved back into the barrel of water, for the longest time I just screamed hoping that I would be able to breathe soon. My whole body was screaming out in pain, my legs were out and the only thing holding me up was this monster. I was dying._

_I suddenly could breathe. I gasped as the small wail of crying filled the air. I fought to get away as hard as I could, but he just jerked my hair back so I was staring at the sky. "Let me ask you one more time." He yelled in my ear, "Where are they!?"_

_Mia let out another wail, I struggled to get away, to reach my daughter. "Let me go! Please, my baby..." The evil man jerked my hair and I let out a scream. "Please, sir, please have mercy."_

_"Where are the vampires?!" He yelled in my face. I was suddenly back in the water. I thrashed, but it was getting harder and harder to fight back. Then I thought of my baby girl, barely three days old out there, alone with these men._

_I could breathe again. I fell to the ground clutching my chest trying to force myself to breathe. I could feel my wedding ring and could see it glittering. I tried to get to my baby but his foot kicked me over and held me to the ground._

_"Look at you, the sensible millers daughter." He spat at me. "You've been seduced by them, you even love them. You've had one of their spawn!"_

_"No!" I screamed up at him. "He loves me, that's our daughter, our baby! He is my husband!" I tried to make him see, but at the sight of my hand, my ring, he froze. A look of unadulterated hatred passes his face. He called to one of his friends, and I saw the man holding my baby girl, he was holding her wrong she was going to get hurt! "Mia!" I screamed. "Mia!"_

_"Quiet!" Another man knelt beside me, slapping me across the face, he held my arm down and pulled out a knife. "Tell us where they are our we will kill you!" But I just shook my head. he growled. As I struggled he grabbed my hand. He took off my ring, then slashed down at my finger._

_I screamed, it felt like my finger had been cut off. I was hauled to my feet. My vision was spinning and my whole arm was turning red. Short raspy breaths filled the air as the first man slapped me again._

_"Tell us where they are or your devil child will get it." They brought Mia over to the barrel of water, and I freaked out._

_"You leave her alone, you back away from my daughter! You touch her and you will die!" I screamed. They all laughed. They let me go, I ran to her, picking her up and holding her close. I sobbed along with my little girl, blood was getting all over her blanket. "Shhhh, it's ok Mia, shhhh, Momma's here. We're going to be alright, your Daddy is going to save us."_

_They all stood around me. I could see all their boots. I curled around Mia, I would die before they hurt her. "Where are they!" The first man yelled at me, kicking dust in my face._

_"They left," I cried out, my will close to breaking. "When they found out you were looking for them they left." I was supposed to meet them when I left the hospital with Mia. "I don't know where they are! Please let us go!"_

_"Do you think we're stupid?" He yelled at me. "We saw them around town just this morning." He grinned like a fallen angel down at me. "Take the baby."_

_"NO!" I screamed, clutching Mia to me, but they jerked her from my arms. Both of us were screaming as they dragged me away. "Mia!" I screamed after her. I couldn't see my baby anymore. They dragged me back over to the barrel. "No please, please!"_

_"We gave you more than enough chances, if we can't find him then we can do the next best thing. Kill her." I screamed as he walked away. Then I was back underwater._

_I cried out for my family, for my baby. I knew that I wasn't going to be saved in time. I struggled as long as I could, and felt the water filling my lungs. It's ok, I saved them, they weren't going to die because of me. Even though I was underwater I could tell I was crying, how strange._

_That's funny. Even though it was dark I could see light in the distance. I felt my heart constrict, it hurt so much... I don't want to go... The light... my family... Mia, my baby girl... Oliver._

_Oliver!_

* * *

Oliver

I sat up, my heart racing. I look around the room before laying back down. Nightmares where I dreamed about her were always the worst. I got up quickly, running a hand through my hair and going down the hallway. I opened the door to Mia's room, and checked in on her.

She was sound asleep, practically buried under all of her blankets. Her face was scrunched up like she was thinking. With a sigh she rolled over and faced the other way. I closed the door.

I sat down in the hallway and rubbed my face. Some days it was difficult to look at my daughter and not get sad. Mia looked so much like her mother, she had her hair, her features, and her talents. But she had developed my more aggressive personality, she was the perfect mix of the two of us.

I missed Felicity with all my heart, I missed her smile, I missed her laugh, I missed waking up and making her breakfast. I shook my head and wiped my eyes. I though about my nightmare, about when I found her.

"Dad?" I looked up to see Mia standing in the doorway. Her brow was furrowed and she sat down beside me. "Dad what's wrong?" I took a deep breath and wrapped an arm around her.

"I was just thinking about your mom." I said, kissing her forehead. Her face fell and she stared ahead at the wall. Mia couldn't remember her mother, and all the stories and memories that I shared with her still didn't fill that void. I didn't even have a picture to give her.

"You had another nightmare about her." She stated, looking at me. I shuddered, even though she didn't remember. Mia was still scared of that night.

_I had run as fast as I could. They had told me they had taken Felicity and Mia, they had taken my family! From far away I could hear Mia crying. If they had touched my baby girl..._

_Vampire hunters had been looking for me ever since I had gotten to town. I didn't now how they had found out about us._

_"Felicity!" I yelled rounding the corner. "Felicity!" I could hear the tiny wail, and as I ran up to the barn I saw a small bundle, covered in blood. "No!" I sank to my knees and picked up my daughter. "Mia, Mia its ok, Daddy's here."_

_She screamed and cried, I held her close and rocked her back and forth trying to calm her down. I looked her over but she didn't seem to be hurt. I stood up, keeping her close to me. "Felicity!" I yelled out, hopping she could hear me._

_I saw something in the distance, my heart stopped. Felicity was the most caring and protective person I had ever met, and if our daughter had been left... My heart was in my throat as I walked up the figure._

_"No!" I screamed out falling to my knees. 'No! Felicity, please, Felicity please." She lay sprawled on the ground, her hair was wet and her face was so pale. He neck and arms were covered in sick dark bruises. Her eyes stared up at the sky, but they were blank and horrible and empty. Clutching Mia to me I collapsed next to my wife. Then I saw her arm, her hand was drenched in blood. In the dirt next to her was the ring I had given her a year ago. "Please," I cried. "Felicity you can't leave me! Please, you have to wake up!" With one arm I reached out and shook her, but her head just flopped to the side. I turned to the side and threw up in the grass._

_Mia started to cry again, and I join in. "Shhhh, its ok. It's going to be ok." I whispered over and over, rocking us back and forth until they found me._

"Dad," I snapped back to the present to see a grown Mia looking at me. I took a deep breath, feeling it in my soul. "I miss her, I know I never really even knew her but I do, I miss her." He eyes filled with tears

"Shhhh, it's going to be ok." I said, and like all those years ago I hugged my daughter close. "Now go get dressed and I'll get us breakfast." She nodded and pushed her hair back just like Felicity used to do.

I walked down the stairs shaking my head. After 200 years it had not gotten any easier. The murder of my wife still haunted us. Thankfully I had my two best friends to help me raise her. Now that Mia was all grown she wanted to know more and more about her mother. It was painful to talk to her about it. I wanted her to know all she could, but that night had scarred us both.

"Good morning. Hey, what's wrong?" I looked up to see Laurel sitting at the table, with an assortment of powders and spices spread in front of her. "Oliver," She said standing up and walking over to me "What's wrong?" A giant cast iron pot boiled and bubbled behind her.

I looked up at my 'sister-in-law'. "Dreams about that night." Her face fell and she put her hand on my shoulder. "I woke Mia up and that's the last thing she needs to be thinking about."

"Oliver, she's growing up, she's going to be ok." Laurel said, she gave me a small smile then she went back to her potion. I sat down and watched her.

Laurel was a witch. She was magical and lived forever like us, and Mia had grown up hearing the stories that it had been _Laurel_ that had cursed the beast in the original tale of Beauty and the Beast. She was older than all of us and more powerful too.

Her and my best friend, my like-a-brother Tommy had taken care of Mia and I ever since that day. Laurel had been the one to find us... out there all alone. She was the only one who knew how horrible it had been.

"Oliver, you need to stop, I know that look." She had a sad reproaching look, and threw something into the bowl. It looked like she was making some sort of magic potion, or just her breakfast. Her hair somehow managed to stay perfect, a quality I had heard Mia jealously covet the past couple of years.

"Good morning Laurel," Mia said as she came down stairs, I smiled at her as the two hugged. Without her, I would have never known how to raise Mia on my own. Laurel had helped out so much over the years, filling in for Felicity however she could.

"Breakfast for the vampires!" Tommy called out, throwing open the back door, hauling in a huge cooler. He grinned at all of us. He was still getting used to his new look. His dark hair had been cut short and styled in a modern way. He was taller and broader than me, but didn't look a day over twenty.

"Thanks Tommy!" Mia said, her eyes growing wide, she hugged him. She opened the cooler and pulled out a bag of blood. She stuck it in the microwave and as it heated up she passed me one.

Tommy hugged his wife, her eyes sparkling. I felt a pang in my heart, he saw and gave me a small smile. I missed that, I missed my wife everyday. He walked over and gave me a reassuring punch on the arm.

"Where did you get these Tommy," Laurel asked, ladling a scoop of the now deep purple mixture she had made into a travel mug, sticking a straw into the top and taking a huge sip.

"That's so gross Aunt Laurel," Mia said taking her bag of blood and biting into it. Laurel started in on her food. I chuckled and bit into my bag. It was good, it was food, but it wasn't as good as fresh from the source blood. We ate this way to raise Mia in a more civilized way, but I knew Tommy still sometimes got food the old-fashioned way.

"I nicked this from the hospital. We needed to stock up for this week, I figure with school we wouldn't have time." He said, and Mia groaned.

"I hate going to high school, I have been ten times, literally!" She crossed her arms, wiping the blood from her mouth. In that moment she reminded me of... well me.

"Mia we took twenty years off school to trek across China." I reprimand her, but I smiled. "Its time we go back, beside, four teenagers living in a house not going to school, people are going to notice." It was true. Laurel, Tommy, and I all looked about 18 despite being over a hundred. Mia looked about 17, maybe 16.

"People are going to notice us anyway." Mia said darkly. Laurel put her arm around her.

Mia had always had trouble in school, not because of grades, she was brilliant just like her mother. But as long as I could remember she had trouble with bullies. No matter where we were people just seamed to pick on her. I hated it, but I couldn't rip them limb from limb... The reason we stopped going to school was because I had tried to do just that.

"Hey, this year we have you moved into the same grade as us, we will all keep an eye on you." I said, we all nodded. We loved Mia and would do anything to protect her.

"But it's so weird" she said, sitting on the counter. "I have to call you Oliver, that's not who you are to me. Your my dad, I should and want to call you Dad. I hate not being able to call you that, or act like that." I smiled with pride at that statement.

"It's going to be alright kid." Tommy said ruffling her hair. "We know what you mean." She nodded and finished her breakfast. "Oh, and kid, after school I'll drive you home" Tommy loaded the fridge with the remaining bags of blood.

"Ok, where will you be Dad?" She asked, looking back at me.

"Scheduling put me in drama.." I admitted, and over all of their laughter I continued. "Apparently I'm now working on set for the musical last period and after school." It didn't bother me, I liked to build, I had built a house for Felicity and Mia when...

"Hey good for you!" Laurel said, "I'm going to try to do costumes, I haven't sewn anything for a while." Laurel admittedly was really great at sewing, she made most of her and Mia's clothes. "Mia you should try out,"

Mia looked green at the very idea, but just like her mother, her love of helping out would win out, even if it was as simple as a school musical. "Maybe, if you guys are all there," She smiled and looked so much like Felicity in that moment.

"There you go," Laurel said, always her biggest encourager.

“You're wonderful." Tommy said, pulling Laurel close and kissing her.

Both Mia and I looked away. She slipped back upstairs to change.

"Hey," Tommy said, coming over to me. "You gonna be alright today?"

"Yeah, just worried about her." I said, looking upstairs.

* * *

**Well? I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think! I went back and forth if this story would include Thea/Roy or Laurel/Tommy, but my love of Laurel Lance won out in the end! **

**I plan on releasing Chapter Two later today as soon as I finish editing. Then I plan on a weekly posting schedule (which I promise to maintain as I already have seven chapters written)!**

**I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!**


	2. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! It brings me joy to share my work with you all!

**Ready to meet the rest of our characters? Ready to get some answers? Well… I promise to answer one of those in this chapter!**

* * *

Felicity

"Good morning!" Sara yelled from across the room. Ava and I grinned and made our way over. My two best friends and I met in a big group hug.

"How long has it been since you've seen each other?" Rory said, pushing his way past us.

"Oh shut up Mick," I said jokingly. “It's been two days, we missed each other." The three of us laughed, linking arms with Ava she led me over to a table where the three of us sat down.

I loved my two best friends so much. Sure, they were insanely popular and athletic and I was the school's technical geek. It worked, in some strange way. I didn't care that I was always left off of invites to huge parties. I had my talent, and that was enough for me now.

"Soooo," Sara said as we all sat down in the cafeteria. "Have y'all seen the new students?"

"More than one?" Ava asked, new students weren't too common in Ohio. We probably got two or three each year, and that was being generous.

"Yeah, there's four of them!" Sara said, her eyes lighting up with the gossip. That was her, she always was willing to dish anything to her love, and to me.

"Four!?" Both Ava and I gasped. "Oh look there's some of them!" I said, looking across the commons. Two students we're holding hands leaning against the glass by the art display. One was a tall girl who had really beautiful blonde hair that was tied back, dressed to the nine in the clothes I only wish I could pull off. She looked like a princess, or a queen. She held herself like one, and even from my seat I could see her eyes sparkle and gleam.

The boy was tall, all american, with broad shoulders and a sweet yet dorky haircut. He Had on a band tee over a white shirt, jeans and boots. They were both quite obviously in love.

"Are they dating?" I asked, looking at the two of them. "How would they already know each other?"

"Apparently they know each other from before they moved here. The boy is Tommy Oliver." Sara went on and on in her normal fashion. "The girl is Laurel Dinah." Sara said, looking proud that she knew that much. "Then the other newbies must have already gone to class, it’s a brother sister duo, I know nothing about them yet, give me until lunch."

"Well if he looks like that, the other ones better live up," Ava said, and both of us looked in shock at her.

"Ava!?" We both shrieked, laughing. "What?" She said. "Hey I'm happy with you Sara, but that doesn't mean I can't look. And I'm looking for you..." She said, pointing at me. I blushed and they both laughed and they started talking about trying to marry me off to someone.

I grinned but stayed out of the conversation, dating had never really interested me. There were just no guys here that I just really liked. The closest thing I had was Barry, and he were just my best guy friend. Also super unavailable, he _definitely_ didn't count.

The bell rang mid thought.

"Bye you guys!" I said, hugging both of them. They went off to one of their countless practices, and I went off to first period history.

I stood out side the classroom with the rest of my classmates. As brilliant as our teacher was he was notorious for being late. I saw school idiot Diaz talking to a girl I didn't recognize. She was standing by herself and holding her bag close and seemed really sad.

"Hey, hey new girl, where are you from?' He said, nudging her. She turned slightly red, brushing her hair back. "Come on new girl, whats your name?"He was standing a step too close to her and I could see her tensing up. "Hey, I'm talking to you, what are you deaf?" He put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, what are you too good to talk to us?"

I had enough, Diaz seldom had moment where he was nice, the rest of us just dealt with and ignored his 'sense of humor'. But for goodness sakes the poor girl. "Leave her alone!" I yelled at him, he smiled and leered at me but did walk off.

"Thanks." she said, looking up and giving me a small smile. She was pretty with wavy hair and green eyes. She was well dressed and had such a nice smile. "Mia Queen," she said offering her hand.

"Felicity," I said, reaching forward to shake her hand.

* * *

Oliver

The day had not been to bad considering. Classes were easy and the people were nice. I had several classes with Mia and she seemed to be doing ok, she said one person had messed with her but it had been handled. I was happy that she was doing so well, I hated it when my daughter was so sad.

Also Mia and I both couldn't afford to break anyone’s bones.

The enigma of being the new kids had stuck with our little group. It was always funny to see how they treated us. Tommy and I alway had girls giggling over us, it got annoying. Laurel at least made it pretty clear that Tommy was taken, but then I had to be politely off-putting to all of them.

None of them were Felicity, I missed her so much. None of these girls were the same, none of them would ever be her.

But apart from that I had even made some friends. I always had a few good friends from each school. None of them last far beyond the years I was there but it was to have other people to hangout with than my brother and his wife.

These two guys were named Barry and Ray. They were both easy-going. They both were in the musical and were more than happy to walk me down to the work shop.

"This is nice," I said, walking through the theater. It was really nice for a high school. There was building and painting and a whole room of props and costumes. Laurel was going to love it here. "I'll have to tell my d… sister about this, I think she would like it." Dang it, I couldn't afford to make stupid mistakes like that.

"Mia right?" Barry asked,hair falling in his face. "She's in my chem class, she's pretty nice." I liked him more instantly.

"Hey Barry!" A blonde girl in a cheerleading outfit stuck her head back in the shop. "How are you today" His face lit up and hugged the girl. "Oh, hi!" she said, holding out her hand for me to shake. "I'm Ava!" She grinned and I thought she had the same sweet, yet no nonsense disposition that Mia did.

"Oliver." I said, going back to building, I think it was a boat.

"Nice to meet you," she said, then turned to Barry. "Sara say you guys need to get that out onstage before she comes back here and pulls you by your over gelled hair." With a grin she went back out. Ray shook his head and smiled after her, and I decided whomever Sara was, I wasn't sure I wanted to meet her. Then we all grabbed sides of the boat and brought it out onstage.

Everyone seamed to be at work and three girls, Ava and another blonde girl I guessed was Sara and another girl were chatting and laughing onstage. I didn't pay any attention until I heard one of the say...

"I can't wait until I get married, then I can finally cover up this awful mark on my hand," I turned around and saw the one girl examining her hand.

The boat crashed to the floor, all three of the girls looked over at me and my heart stopped... A pair of eyes met my own.

It was Felicity.

I was her, it was my Felicity, down to every last detail. She was staring at me. Felicity, my wife, she was here. She was alive.

I ran.

* * *

Felicity

The rest of my day had passed pretty uneventfully, Sara and Ava were still trying to convince me to at least consider marriage with some one, even if it wasn't one of the new guys. I laughed them off. I loved them to death and knew they were just kidding. And it was weird because Mia turned out to be in another one of my classes and I really could see us becoming friends, and didn't want them teasing me about her brother.

For one thing she was brilliant, she knew everything about history and every comprehensive answer in English. although she did tell me in confidence that they had already done that book at her old school. I made sure that my friends and I were nice to her, and she seemed appreciative. I also had her convinced to try out for the musical.

But at the end of the day I was excited to be able to go to theater. All of my friends and I loved to be in shows, to work on shows. It was my favorite part of the day. In this show I had secured the technical director in the Musical: Jekyll & Hyde. It was an incredible show that I was honored to be a part of.

"Just think Felicity," Sara said, grinning evilly. "If you date and fall in love and then marry someone then you can get a gorgeous ring to cover up that ugly finger!" She said, grabbing my hand.

"Sara…" Ava said, with a look. I didn't mind, these two were the only two people who I didn't mind talking about my scar. For as long as I could remember I had this horrible mark on my ring finger, right where a wedding ring would go. It looked like someone had tried to cut it off, it sometimes got stiff and hurt.

Doctors had just told me to live with it, and most people didn't notice. It bothered me sometime and I never knew what to say when people asked me about it.

"It's fine, I know your kidding." I said, hugging my friend. "But I mean she does have a point." I admitted, grinning. "I can't wait until I get married, then I can finally cover up this awful mark on my hand."

There was a loud crash, we all shrieked and spun around to see...

I knew at once this was Mia's older brother, she looked just like him. They both had the same face and the same bone deep inner strength. He was beautiful, and handsome, and staring at me with unbelievable eyes. My breath caught.

He looked horrified at the sight of me, I wondered what I could have done wrong. My stomach twisted and all of a sudden I didn't know quite how I felt about anything.

He took off running, pushing past people trying to get out of there. I looked after him, wanting to call out but not knowing what to say. "Who was that?" I asked, but everyone just stared after him, and nobody answered.

* * *

**There you go! One of my favorite friendships on the entire show was when Sara and Felicity were friends in season two! But our star-crossed lovers have met, although Felicity doesn't understand just how big this is!**

**There is so much in store for our characters. I promise a tale of friends, family, love, betrayal, and hope…**

**Review! See you in a week!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait for you to see what happens next! What did you think?! Leave a comment! Please!  
-AC


	3. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! It brings me joy to share my work with you all!

**I was so overwhelmed at the response to the first part of this story! I am so excited that you want to keep reading! Up next we see the fallout of last chapter, as well as some happier flashbacks. Also as the title suggests, a whole lot of questions….**

* * *

_Felicity_

_I looked up and saw three people walking into the store. "Your just going to have to deal with it Oliver," A tall boy said, he had a pretty blonde haired girl on his arm, they both were laughing. I turned to see who they were laughing at and blinked._

_It was the most handsome man I had ever seen, he looked about my age, maybe a year older. He had long hair that was swept back and sparkling eyes. His mouth went up in a thin smile and he tipped his head at me. I realized I was being rude, nodded and turned around and went back to my shopping. But I did straighten my dress._

_The corner store was only a block away from my house and my father had made me go shopping, despite my mother's allegations that it was unladylike. I tried to seem collected as I picked an apple from the top of a pile. It wasn't enough, and three went rolling towards the floor. I dropped my bag and caught all of them, my face flaming._

_"Ma'am you dropped this," I turned to see... him. He was holding out my bag. Behind him, his two friends were staring at me. The girl had on one of the most beautiful yellow and green dress I had ever seen._

_"Thank you, I promise it wasn't the sate of your appearance that caused the avalanche…” I said, blushing deeper as I instantly regretted what I said, taking the bag. Then on a moment of pure spontaneity I stuck out my hand. "Felicity Smoak"_

_"Oliver Queen," He said, smiling even bigger as he shook my hand._

_“Royalty,” I commented, managing to make an even bigger fool of myself, before abruptly walking away._

_I smiled, then went back to my shopping, but I could see all of them watching me. They were all well dressed, he especially had a black suit on with a green flower in the lapel. I looked down at my dress, it was purple, and it was my favorite, but next to them I felt plain. I knew at least my hair looked nice. I had twisted my hair up and twisted violets from the garden into it. As I had paid and was walking out I saw him approach me._

_"Miss Smoak?" I turned to see him standing there, he held himself tall, much more confident than the other boys my age. "If I am not being to forward, may I walk you home?" I blushed and tried not to make a fool of myself again._

_"Mr. Queen, I do believe the rest of your party will miss your presence." That at least wasn't embarrassing. He gave me that beautiful smile, and gestured for his friends to join us._

_"Miss Smoak, this is my brother Tommy and his fiancé Laurel Lance." His brother shook my hand and the girl gave me a warm smile._

_"It would be no problem for my brother to accompany you if you consent," Tommy nodded, I liked him, he had kind eyes._

_"It's been very nice to meet you," Laurel said, inclining her head. "I do hope to see you again." Still arm and arm, they walked off around the store._

_"If you decline I will not hold it against you." Oliver said, looking faintly worried. "I hope I have not come on too strong."_

_I looked at him, and felt something stir in my heart. “You are definitely not too strong.”_

_Felicity, stop yourself before you scare the man away for good._

_“It would be my pleasure." I said, smiling at him._

_His face lit up and it made me blush again. "Shall we?" He held out his arm and I took it, he opened the door for me and we walked out into the sun._

* * *

Oliver

I slammed the door to the house and began pacing across the living room. I wasn't thinking in complete sentences. I pulled on my hair, how was this possible. How could this happen? It was my Felicity, my wife. She was here. At our new school, my wife. Mia's mother...

I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands. All I kept seeing was her dead body. I had held her and cried over her body. The woman I loved, the mother of my child.

What was I going to do? It was my Felicity, my beautiful Felicity, but_ she was dead_. I started to cry, I couldn't help it. She was dead, they had killed her. They had tortured her... But she was here.

Mia. Oh god what was I going to do, her mother….

What was I going to do? I stood up and began pacing again.

I remembered the first day I met her, the day I married her, and they killed her!

I punched the wall as hard as I could, hoping the pain would clear my head. What was I going to do, it was her, she was back, my Felicity was back. But how could she be if she was dead?

I heard noises and tried to get out of the room, but they were home. "Hey Dad what are you doing..." Mia walked into the room but she froze. I knew what she saw. I was going to pieces, there was a hole in the wall.

I suddenly lost all of my fight. I sat down and buried my face in my hands and cried.

"Tommy!" She called out, all the blood running from her face. In seconds my brother was there.

"What wrong?" He asked. I just shook my head. I could hear Mia getting Laurel. "Oliver did something happen?" But I wasn't going to speak, I didn't trust myself.

"Dad?" I heard Mia ask, she sounded terrified. I finally looked up to see her standing there. I couldn't even smile to reassure her. I stood up and they all looked at me. I opened my arms and she ran and gave me a hug. I stroked her hair once and tried to stay calm.

"Mia I need you to go upstairs." My voice didn't sound like my own, it was too calm. She looked shocked, we didn't keep things from her. "Please, I need to talk with them" I said, she looked at her Aunt and Uncle who looked just as grave, and just as worried.

"Ok," she said, she looked so worried that she didn;t even bother to argue and she took the stairs two at a time. Laurel rounded on me.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"Felicity," I said, running my hands through my hair and starting pacing again. I saw them both look at each other before Laurel took a step towards me. "It's Felicity. She looked at me like…" I stopped, unable to phrase it “Felicity is alive."

"Oliver, she's dead." She spoke with caution and patience, and I freaked out on her. I grabbed her arms and yelled at her.

"She's not dead! I saw her today! She was at school and its her! How is this possible?" Tommy pulled me off her as they both stared at me.

"What do you mean?" Tommy said, looking at me, I know they thought I was going crazy. "Look, what happened to you today Oliver?"

"I was at the theater and I heard her talk about her hand, the one they cut. I turned and it was her, it was my wife! It was Felicity." I stuttered on, voice choppy and thought refusing to align in my brain. "She looked exactly the same, and she just stared at me like she didn't know me so I ran." I sat down and looked at Laurel. "Is it possible?!"

She looked worried and her brow wrinkled. She held out her hands as if to hold me off. Then she stormed out of the room. I leapt up to follow her but Tommy held me back. "Laurel!" I yelled after her.

"Hey calm down ." Tommy pushed me back down on the couch and sat next to me. "Are you sure? Are you sure it was Felicity?" I knew what he was asking, it was double-sided. He wanted to know if I had lost it or not. He knew what it meant for all of us, they had both loved her too.

"It was, it was like we were back in 1823. But she just looked at me, she didn't know who I was but it was her! I wouldn't make something like this up!"

"I know you wouldn't, but Oliver... We all saw her, she was dead, you tried to bring her back but it didn't work? How can she be alive? You of all people know what this means..."

"I think I know," My head snapped up. Laurel was standing in the doorway, holding a large ancient looking book. He voice wavered, like she was trying not to cry. "It's.. It's in here..." She sat down and opened the book.

Sometimes I forgot what exactly Laurel was. With her hair down she looked every part the witch that she was.

"It was always a myth, stories that tossed and turned on the winds. " He breath hitched and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "That's all I ever thought it was, just a story, old witch ramblings, but if it's true..." We both looked down at the page but couldn't read the ancient writings.

"Laurel is it her?" I demanded of her. She looked down at the page, muttering her eyes glowing. "Please..."

"It was always just a story, but it could be. I don't know how though, with all the time she spend around me, the magic she saw..." She was muttering under her breath to herself. “Even then she wouldn't have access to that kind of power.”

She looked up at me, my heart stopped, and I believed.

"It's a second chance Oliver, the Lazarus Spell, a second life. It says that someone who was young, whose life ended violently." She shuddered remembering Felicity's body. "They are brought back, but are new, blank. She won't remember anything. Whoever cast the spell could chose a new timeline for her to exist in, free from any risk of what killed her before.”

“It sounds like science fiction,” Tommy commented and Laurel tossed him a sharp glance.

“Science fiction and magic are more closely related that other people think.” She reasoned.

The silence had never been more deafening. It was her, my Felicity, but she didn't know who I was, or who Mia was.

"What's this mean for the kid?" Tommy asked mirroring my thoughts, and looking upstairs. I looked up, thinking that if all of this was actually happening, Mia could know her mother. "Look Oliver, we need to tell her. She deserves to know, no matter what it is."

"I can get her," Laurel said, standing up quickly, pushing the book as far away from her as she could. As she ran off I saw her wiping tears from her eye, Tommy looked after her.

Laurel had a love hate relationship with her magic and I could tell she felt guilty that she had never considered this before. Even if she could, having been expelled from her coven had weaken her severely of her powers.

"Laurel's going to be ok, don't worry about her." Tommy sat down next to me and rubbed his chin. "What about you though," I didn't answer, I had run out of words. "I'm worried about the kid," He continued, seeing I wasn't going to speak. "Mia, she's not going to know how to deal with this."

"How to deal with what?" Both of our heads snapped up, she was standing in the doorway with Laurel leaning back in the shadows. "Dad? How to deal with what?" She looked terrified.

Two things hit me in that moment. After seeing Felicity today it just reenforced how much Mia looked like her. Secondly, my little girl looked so young and yet so old. "Sit down." I said, that same weird voice that wasn't mine came out.

"Somebody need to tell me whats going on!" She said, growing more angry at the grave pressure that had settled around the room. She sat on the couch across from me, Laurel sat next to her and put her arm around her. Tommy stood up and sat on her other side, wrapping arms around them both. Mia was unable to stop tears from running down her cheeks.

She had no idea what was going on.

I didn't know where to start, How was I supposed to tell my daughter that her mother, the one who had been murdered trying to protect her was alive, but didn't know who she was…

* * *

**Well, we have an idea of how Felicity is back, but no idea on the WHO or the WHY! Poor Oliver and Mia, how they deal with this is going to be a major focus for them! But also, who doesn't love a good Felicity rambling meet-cute!**

**If you love this, and hate waiting, check out my other (complete) work, a Flash fanfic called _Be Kind, Aim for My Heart_ for more superhero woes!**

**Next time is a more Felicity centric chapter, as two worlds start colliding!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait for you to see what happens next! What did you think?! Leave a comment! Please!  
-AC


	4. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! It brings me joy to share my work with you all!

**You guys, I honestly cannot get over how much positive responses I have gotten to this fic! I love that you love these characters as much as I do!**

**This is a mainly Felicity-centric chapter, so sit back and enjoy!**

* * *

_Felicity_

_I smiled at the sight in front of me. "Oliver," I asked, and he turned to face me, his smile radiating. "Would you please get the door?"_

_"Felicity!" I looked around to see Tommy and Laurel strolling through the door. Laurel in her beautiful yellow dress and my brother-in-law in a suit. "Oh you look wonderful Felicity." Laurel said. I beamed, my heart was so full of love, I felt like I was going to burst._

_"How are you feeling?" Tommy asked, looking down at me, with a kind smile._

_"I am not quite sure." I replied honestly. Oliver put his hand on my shoulder and look at me concerned. I reassured him with a smile. “Ive never had much control over my emotions, but this seems quite ridiculous.”_

_An onslaught of feeling came over me and I was surprised to feel my eyes full of tears, which in turn made me laugh._

_"Is this her?" Laurel asked, standing by the bassinet with my baby girl in it. Her face had the same look I did every time I looked at my daughter. "Felicity she is beautiful."_

_"I know," I covered my mouth. The only thing keeping me sane was the face the doctor had said my emotions would be a bit out of sorts. "Oliver will you bring her over to me?" They all jumped up, Laurel running to my side, and Oliver going over to our baby._

_"She is going to be beautiful kid. You are very fortunate." Tommy said, grinning down at me. In that moment I could feel it, feel how my life would be perfect from this moment forward._

_I watched my husband pick up our daughter. He was so careful, and his face was so bright as he smiled down on our little girl. I loved him so much, this wonderful man. He carried her over to me and I reached out._

_She fit into my arms perfectly, still asleep. She was beautiful, and I held her close to me, rocking her back and forth, whispering soothing things to keep her asleep. She was so small, and she was mine. Mine and Oliver's, she belonged to us. We would love and protect her no matter what._

_“This is mine and Oliver’s impeccable genetics,” I grinned up at Oliver, before turning to the perfect little face in my arms._

_"I love you," I whispered to her. She moved and I took a breath, wanting her to wake up yet wanting her to stay asleep._

_"She is perfect Felicity, she is perfectly the both of you!" Laurel said, sitting in the chair beside my bed and laughing with me as we studied my little angel._

_"I did not realize it was possible to love anyone this much." I said, my eyes threatening to spill over again. This feeling had taken over my heart, not overlapping my feelings for my husband, but if possible making them greater. "Oliver?" I asked looking up for him._

_He was standing my the other side of my bed, with his brother's arm around him. Both of them were beaming down at us. "Yes?" He said leaning down and kissing my forehead. But I just looked at him, with a smile. He could feel all of what was happening in my heart. Our foreheads stayed together with his hand in my hair._

_"Did you ever decide on a name?" Laurel asked. We broke apart, with a knowing smile. I settled back into the pillows rocking my daughter back and forth._

_"Mia. Mia Donatella Queen."_

I sat up in bed gasping. I slapped my bedside table until I found my phone. When the light cut through the darkness I saw it was 2:37 AM.

What was that? I turned on the lamp and sat there rubbing my eyes.

I’d had some weird dreams in the past but this one pretty much topped it.

I tried to remember what happened before it all slipped away. I was obviously a dream, all the clothes and lighting and the way I had even talked was different.

Why? Why? Were all the new people in my dream, I didn't even know them. This was an entirely new level of creepy and inappropriate, even for me.

The one who had run out today, in the dream he had kissed me. I did remember that.

I wouldn't forget getting to kiss a face like that, even in a dream.

Sure he was cute and all but showing up in my dreams? I tried to remember other details, but they just slipped through my mind.

It was either too early, or too late for this. I turned off the light and my head hit the pillow. As I drifted back to sleep I remembered this feeling, not a detail, but a feeling I had in the dream.

It was like nothing I had ever felt, deep in my stomach, it was good, warm, protective even. It was like what I felt for Sara and Ava, my friends…

But different, stronger.

* * *

Oliver

"My mom?" Mia said, looking up at me. "That was her? I talked to her, she told some guy to leave me alone, she was my friend today." She had her head in her hands and was shaking. "Dad are you sure?"

"I would have to check but it could be," Laurel said, she still had her arm around her niece. "But if what your Dad said was true..."

"But you said she died!" Mia cried out, she stood up and began pacing like I had. "You told me that she was dead!" I just looked at her, I saw myself and how I felt reflected in her eyes. "I never even got to see her because there were no photos back in the dark ages!"

"Mia," I said, standing up and walking over to her. She was wiping tears from her eyes. I hugged her, and she started to cry. "Mia listen to me, I have no idea whats going on either, but no matter what it is, we will get through it together. I want it to be your mom too, and I want you to know her, but if it is her, she’s not going to remember us."

"What if it's not her? Or what if it is but she doesn't like me!" She cried out, stalking back and forth.

At this point Tommy stood up.

"Kid, she will love you, no matter what." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Mia, I knew your mother. She loved you more than anything in this whole world. And even if this girl isn't her, she will still like you. How could she not, you're one of the best." She tried not to but she smiled. "See, there you go Kid.”

She walked back forth again then over to me. "Hey," I said, walking over to her. "Were are going to do this together. Ok?"

She met my gaze with her own steely determine gaze, and I was so proud to be able to claim her as my daughter as she nodded.

* * *

Felicity

I walked into school the next day feeling weird, I remembered even less of my dream, but that feeling, I remembered that all to clearly, and it was completely throwing me off my groove.

As I walked into the door my phone went off. "Good morning Sara!" I said, pulling my phone out of my bag and grinning.

"Listen up Blondie, I figured out why that guy freaked because of you!" She said, getting straight to it. I held the phone away, wishing they would leave that alone, they had teased me enough yesterday. "Love at first sight!"

I sighed, "Ava guessed that yesterday and besides I thought you were going with psychopath ninja undercover killer?"

"I know, but it's much more exciting this way! Do you want to hang out before class?" I ran my hand through my hair.

"No, I'd love to but I have to go over lines of code for blocking rehearsal after school. It won’t take me long, I just have to get another three pages done!"

I could practically hear her roll her eyes. "Sure Felicity, go take care of your business. See you later, love you!"

"Love you too! Tell Ava good morning for me!" I said, hanging up the phone. I loved my friends. I pulled out a few of my folders and sat down at one of the cafeteria tables. I had been honest when I said I was going over lines.

I was outlining the Act One Finale when I looked around the room. A bunch of other people were hanging out and I watched them for a bit. Then I saw something sad.

It was Mia Queen. She was sitting by herself and just staring down at the table. Her hair was pulled back and she looked like she hadn't slept at all. She looked like she would start crying at any moment.

I recognized that look, like a million thoughts were spinning around in your head and if you just let one out then you wouldn’t be able to stop.

I wondered where her brother was.

I put my stuff up and was going to go over and check on her when she stood up and went to walk away. But she didn't see where she was going and ran into someone.

Just her luck it had to be Ricky Diaz, the same creep who had been bothering her yesterday.

He leered at her, taking her by the arm and trying to pull her closer to him. I saw Mia’s face darken and quick as a flash she shoved him away.

Stomach dropping I saw his brow furrow, and he tried once more to grab her only to be shoved back harder.

I saw several of his friends take notice and stand up, making a half circle around Mia.

Mia fists clenched and the next thing I knew I was running across the room.

"Hey!" I yelled. Everyone within mile radius seamed to stop and stare. "Leave her alone!" Mia went chalk-white and I stood in front of her.

"Will you guys just back off!" My voice had grown to a yell. “Go away Diaz!"

Why was I yelling? This wasn't me, I never yelled. I had made it a point to not associate myself with these people. But I was angry, so angry at them.

“Well didn't think you had it in you,” Diaz smirked. I was acting crazy, and yet I still kept it up.

"Go away!" I snapped.

A teacher, hearing the commotion was looking around the room, and when Diaz saw he scowled and looked at me then he and his buddies all walked off shaking their heads.

I turned to check on Mia and saw her running down the hallway, away from the situation. "Mia!" I called after her, running to catch her.

I caught up to her before she had turned into a deserted hallway. She pulled away from me and I saw that her cheeks were red and her eyes watering.

"Oh Mia it's ok. Those guys are jerks, they have too many strikes against them do risk doing anything to you.” I tried to move towards her but she just backed up.

"No!" She yelled, her arms were wrapped around herself and she wouldn't look at me. “It's like this all the time, they always mess with me! No matter what I do, no matter where I am! They won’t leave me alone!" Her breathing was growing strained, like she was struggling to keep calm.

I looked at this poor girl, and I just wanted to hug her.

"It's going to be ok," I said, not able to come up with anything more sophisticated.

She looked up at me and bit her lip, her face was going white again, what was happening to her? She took several steps backwards.

"I just want…” She gasped, then down to the ground and started crying, it sounded horrible.

Whatever was going on was more than what had just happened.

It was hurting my heart to see her so sad. I sat down beside her and wrapped my arms around the girl. I could hear her crying and I just hugged her.

"It's going to be ok." I said, "Shhhh... It's ok" and we sat there for a long time. I held her close and she just hung on to me. "It's going to be alright, I'm here I got you." I had no idea what was happening. But I just kept comforting her, tearing up myself at her obvious pain.

Then I heard someone swear very loudly. I looked up to see the new student Tommy. He was staring down at me with the same look as Mia’s brother the other day.

What was with the new boys reacting like this?

He swore again and then looked down, and I could hear more unmentionable words spilling from his mouth.

"Stop it!" I snapped at him. He went pale and then almost green. But then Mia looked up and saw him. She stopped crying, and scrambled to her feet. I stood up, and put myself in between the two of them, not knowing what else to do.

"Mia," He said, his voice deep and hard, like he was angry at me. I heard her take a deep breath, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. A wave of some weird emotion passed over his face. "Go to the car, we're going home.”

How on earth did they know each other?

Without answering Mia grabbed her stuff and ran off.

"Wait, Mia!" I called after her, but she didn't even look back. I wheeled on the dark haired guy.

"Look," I snapped at him, that feeling turned angry, overlapping anything else, all reason or sense to the conversation. "I don't know what happening, but she is upset and obviously hurt. You better not be making it worse!"

He just stared at me, still that pale green color. Then he turned and stalked off.

I just looked after him, suddenly, the strangeness of the morning hit me. None of it made sense, what was going on? I wasn't rude to strangers, and I didn't yell at people.

And still under all my confusion, that feeling of protectiveness for Mia ran strong. I still wanted to run after her and make sure she was ok…

* * *

**Ugh guys, I love the Felicity and Mia interactions, they are going going to get more angsty as Felicity starts getting more pieces of the puzzle.**

**Felicity is a smart girl, but she’s dealing with things beyond her imagination…**

**Also, since Mia didn't have a middle name in the show, I chose to name her after Felicity’s mother, which I feel was super in character for her.**

**Up next, Oliver and Laurel are out to prove that Felicity is the girl they once knew, but how can they do that without exposing themselves?**

**Review, I want to hear your thoughts and theories! **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait for you to see what happens next! What did you think?! Leave a comment! Please!  
-AC


	5. Superstitions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! It brings me joy to share my work with you all!

**READY FOR A NEW CHAPTER! I really am! Thank you guys so much for your continued interest!**

**Up next, in the past and in the present Oliver and Felicity find themselves faced with information they are not prepared for.**

* * *

Oliver

"Have you heard from Tommy today?" I asked Laurel, opening a cabinet and handing her a bolt of blue fabric. "I've called him twice, he never picked up and I know he was not in any of his classes."

"He texted me, apparently after yesterday Mia forgot to eat, so he took her home and they didn't feel like coming back." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

I didn't think it was as funny. I knew Mia, she hated school, and she was upset over the Felicity thing. And my brother, taking her out of school... Well, my daughter and Tommy had always gotten along so well, if she was upset I was glad that he at least was with her.

"Will you hand me that box of ribbon?" Laurel asked, she was folding everything, she had been since we had gotten to the 'costume room'. The room was disorganized to the point of a pigsty, and add to that an upset Laurel it was slowly being but into military perfection.

I reached for the box and saw her book, when Laurel saw it she pressed her lips together and turned away, folding more of the clothes.

I had not paid attention to anything all day, just waiting for the moment until I saw Felicity again. I wanted to kiss her when I saw her, but I knew that had to wait.

"Do you really think its her?" Laurel asked, running her hands through her hair, leaning against a pile of dresses. "I mean do you really think it's her? Because I know you've missed her, Oliver I loved her too, she was my best friend." She looked so worried, about all of us.

"It's her, I know it." I said, picking up the old leather-covered book.

I saw Felicity smiling and laughing and holding Mia. Then I saw her lying on the ground, dead.

"I just hope I can do this," Laurel was turning pale, she was so good at magic. However, her relationship with her powers had been fraught since the revelation.

The door opened.

"Hey, I heard you needed to fit me for a costume?"_ She_ walked in, and Laurel dropped what she was holding and swore, loudly.

Felicity, even after a day of trying to put it together it still hit me in the gut to see her, standing there. She looked back and forth between the two of us. Her face darkened.

"Why do you people keep doing that?" She yelled, her face turning red. "You all just stare at me or swear at me!" She shook her head. "And then Mia, I don't know what you guys did but she didn't go to class today!" She stopped to take a breath. "Is she ok?"

That snapped me out of my daze. "What do you mean? Did something happen to her?" I thought about Tommy's silence, and I panicked.

At the same time I couldn't help but think that we were discussing our daughter.

"Yes!" Felicity snapped. "Some people were messing with her and went I told them off she ran away and started to cry! I sat there with her while she was so upset! Then the new guy came and took her out of school! Something is wrong with her and you don't even notice!" She was up in my face, she was so upset.

Then she fell forward, I caught her in my arms and looked up, panicking.

Laurel was standing there, pale, with a bag of shiny silver powder. She looked down at Felicity with wide eyes. "It really is her Oliver," She said, I lowered her to the floor and we both knelt beside her. "I didn't really believe it, but it's her."

"Just hurry and do the spell." I snapped, brushing Felicity's hair back. It was her face, the face that I had missed for so long. "Laurel, do the spell!" I looked up to see her looking pale down at her. "What are you waiting for? People could find us!"

"I didn't think it would be her, I just thought you were upset." Tears filled her eyes. "I need blood for the spell. I need some of her blood." She pulled a small knife from her bag.

"What?" I grabbed the knife, looking down at the girl between us. "No, Laurel I can't do that." My stomach rolled, and I though of all Felicity had been through keeping Mia safe from those men. I couldn't do that to her again.

"Then we won't know if it's really her..." Laurel said, she reached out and held Felicity's hand. They all had as much to lose as I did. I rolled up the sleeve of her shirt, and with the knife shaking I drew it across her upper arm.

* * *

_Felicity_

"_You asked to see me?" I asked, pausing at the door to his sitting room. Laurel had accompanied me through the house but I could hear her slip away. All of our previous meetings had been chaperoned, and this was the first time that we had ever been truly alone. "Mr. Queen?" I asked, reverting to a less familiar name._

_"Miss Smoak," He said, standing up. His hair was disheveled, messed up, he normally was so put together. His shirt was ruffled, but he still had on a vest, with violets pinned to it. "Please sit down."_

_I crossed over to the chair, their whole house was so beautiful. It was so much nicer than anything I was accustomed to. "You called for me?"_

_He took a deep breath. "Yes, there was matter that we need to discuss." He clasped his hands and began to pace back and forth. I was worried about him, I had never seen him so upset._

_"Oliver," I said, "What is the matter?" He stopped to stare at me. He looked so pale, so worried. I stood up and crossed to him. "Oliver," I said, taking one of his hands._

_This was very forward, we had strolled through town before arm and arm, but never this. I hoped he wouldn't pull away. "I need to tell you something." He said, not looking me in the eye. I wanted to reach out and fix his hair._

_He pulled away from me and went back to his pacing. "You act as if you've done something terrible." He looked up with me with wild eyes. My breath caught in my chest, this couldn't be right..._

_"You wont think of me the same," He said, sitting down burying his face in his hands. "Miss Smoak, I have not killed anyone, or stolen, I am not a criminal." He would look up. "But you will never wish to be around me again. I will not blame you."_

_"Mr. Queen," I whispered, he had not once used my given name. I crossed over to his side, sitting next to him. "I have not known you for very long. One might even say that I do not even know you very well. But there is one thing I am very sure of..."_

_He finally looked up, blue eyes met mine. He looked so distraught. "Felicity..." But I did not let him finish._

_"I am sure that you are a good man. Your are one of the best men I have ever met. You care so deeply about your family, you protect them and take care of them, and you have taken care of me. You are generous and kind, and what you tell me today will not change that, you will always be a good man." I reached out and ran my fingers through his hair, brushing it back away from his face._

_If anyone had seem me it would have been scandalous. I did not care, I wanted to fix what was broken in his eyes. He searched my face, looking for any reason to doubt what I had just said._

_"Felicity," Then he leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the lips._

_My breath caught in my chest, he pulled away and we looked at each other for a long time. It had been my first kiss. "Oliver," I whispered. Before I could say anything else he stood up and stormed away. I put my hand up to my mouth and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry," I said, heat rushing to my face. Oh what must he thing of me? "I was being forward and I apologize."_

_"No," He ran back to me, kneeling in front of me taking both of my hands in his. "Felicity, you are the perfect woman, you could not be too forward if you had tried."_

_"Oliver what is it that you need to tell me?" I implored, holding his hands tight in my own, they were shaking._

_He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I am a vampire." I let go of the breath I had held and gave a choked laugh._

_"You had me so frightened," I said, pulling my hands back into my lap. "You really should not play with me that way Oliver, I was very worried..." But he had pulled away from me and stood up and went back to pacing._

_"I am not playing with you Felicity, it is the truth." I stared at him, he was so flustered. I refused to believe it. "It is the truth, I am a vampire."_

_"I should get your brother, you are ill" I stood, making for the door, but before I could take a step he was in front of me. How had he moved so fast?"_

_"Look at me," He said, barring a horrible smile, his teeth. His teeth were strong and white, two pointed like a dog or wild animal. I backed up and cried out._

_"No," I whispered, but Oliver had thrown himself away from me. He had sank back down onto the couch. "No, this is impossible." I looked down at the man I thought I had known._

_My whole world had changed in an instant, my heart was on the point of breaking. Nothing I believed in held any value anymore. He was a monster, an evil being. Yet I still wanted to comfort this broken man, and that is what hurt the most. "You told me you were not a murderer." I said._

_"I did not lie!" He said, looking at me. "It is just who I am Felicity, I still am the same person. I am different, I do not eat food like you do, I will never grow any older. But I am the same, we are the same."_

_"We?" I asked, as the second broken wave of realization hit me. I sat down at that point, my hand going to my throat. "All of you, you all lied to me..." I had thought they were my friends, but they were all..._

_"It was to keep you safe," He said. "It was to keep everyone safe."_

_"It was to keep yourselves safe." I said, looking into his eyes. "I understand that, you protect your family. That is who you are." I spoke with wild abandon. "My whole world is different. You are what I have been raised to believe is a monster."_

_He was before me in an instant. He pulled me to my feet. I closed my eyes and flinched away. He took a step back but still kept his hand on my arms. "I am not a monster, none of us are. I understand that I have just given you an incredible burden, but I believed in your good heart. But please Felicity, for the sake of my family. You can not tell anyone about us."_

_"You believed in me?" I asked, he stopped and looked at me. Then slowly he pulled me close and kissed me. The world started to spin. Even after everything I knew I still wanted him, this man._

_"I have the more faith in you than I could have ever dreamed." He replied. I looked into his eyes and without meaning to I laughed. "What?" He asked._

_"This has been like a dream, a crazy magical and strange dream." I closed my eyes, and lowered my head. The clouds were still not gone, and I would not say it aloud but I still was afraid of the man who stood before me. "I still have questions." I said to the floor._

_"I will answer all of them, I promise you." He said, keeping his hand on my arm he led us over to the couch, both of us sat. "What do you want to know." His face had changed so much, it was no longer broken, but full of hope. His eyes bright, and I reached out my hand and ran it through his hair, fixing it like I had wanted to._

_"I want you to tell me everything." I said, taking a deep breath._

* * *

**Oh boy! This is the start of something huge! Magic always has a cost, and Felicity is already suspicious…**

**UP NEXT! The spell Laurel cast awakens something within Felicity… To give you an idea of what to expect, the chapter title is Revelations.**

**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter? Do you like the flashbacks? Any theories on what is going on?! I’d love to hear them!**


	6. Revelations

**YAY! Surprise Monday upload, I really hope you enjoy this! This is the beginning of the action!**

**Also, I made some artwork for this story that I would love to share, but I have no idea how to do it! If you do let me know!**

* * *

Oliver

"What happened?" Sara yelled at everyone around her. Both her and Ava were sitting on the floor next to Felicity.

They obviously cared about her.

Laurel had disappeared the moment the spell was done, and had snuck me out of the room, leaving me to wait until someone found Felicity passed out in the costume room.

“Maybe you should take her to the nurse,” I offered.

They glared at me.

Ava pulled a bottle of perfume. She waved it under her nose and Felicity twitched. "She's waking up."

Felicity stirred and opened her eyes. She looked at her friends."What happened?" Her voice was high and scared.

”I thought I was grabbing a costume?" She still sounded dazed, that stuff Laurel gave her would keep her like that for a while.

She glanced over and saw me, and her face went pale.

Within seconds her friends had pulled her away from me.

“What happened Queen?" Sara yelled at me, pushing me back again. I lost balance and stumbled back, as Ava pulled Felicity to her feet.

"Felicity," I called out as they had pulled her away from me. They took off with her, forming a solid wall between us.

Leaving me there watching after her.

"That was a stupid move, staying behind " Laurel snapped, leaning against the car, watching me walk towards her. Her face was withdrawn. "We need to get out of here now."

The thought of leaving Felicity made me sick. When i had last seen her she looked upset, her eyes were bright, but both her friends had their arms around her and I knew she would be taken care of.

"Lets go." We were silent the way home, Laurel's knuckles white on the wheel. But my heart and mind were racing.

As I opened the door to the house, Mia came running up to me. She had this look on her face, of nervous determination. I don't think she had ever looked like me more. "What did you find out?"

I looked into her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's her, it's your mom."

She looked shocked. Like the rest of us she never really truly believed it. But then she smiled, and started laughing. "My mom's alive." She said, tears running down her face, still laughing.

All the emotions I had broke free. "Felicity's alive," I said loudly, I embraced my daughter, picking her up and spinning her around. Both of us were laughing and crying, utterly hysterical.

"Tommy my mom's alive!" Mia yelled running and throwing her arms around my brother who had come to see what the noise was. At the news he yelled and spun her too. He ran over to me and slapped me on the back, even Laurel was broken out of her stunned silence and smiled and kissed her husband.

We were caught in a wave of excited celebration. We hadn't been this happy in a long time.

_"Happy Birthday Tommy!" We all called, I clapped my brother on the back. Laurel and Felicity both busied themselves with cutting the enormous cake. "Thank you darling." He said, kissing his wife on the cheek as she gave him a piece._

_"I can't believe that you are fifty years old, that's practically ancient." Felicity said, linking her arm through mine."At times I feel like a child around all of you."_

_"You will get used to it." Laurel said with a wide smile. "You will have to sooner or later." Both girls beamed and laughed. I smiled down at Felicity, and at the glistening ring on her finger._

_"I just hope you will be contributing more help like this, best cake I have ever had." Tommy said, Laurel stood at his shoulder, he gave her a fork full._

_Felicity was glowing, she looked down at her ring them beamed up at me. I kissed her forehead. "I love you." She whispered._

_"A toast!" Tommy called, passing out glasses. "To many more birthdays, and the wonderful addition to my family. Felicity, you have become a light to the one person I have ever considered family, and he is never more happy than when he is with you." She reached forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "You are a friend to my wife, and a friend to me. To Felicity and many more birthdays!" We all toasted._

_"Well my brother, it looks like we have a complete family..." I said, looking around, feeling perfectly and wonderfully content._

* * *

Felicity

I had spent all day worrying about Mia. Something had been going on with her and the new kids, and I hoped she didn't have problems at home.

"Look Mamma Felicity I know your worried about the kid." Sara said, at lunch after me bringing it up for the 8th time. "Just wait until she comes back and make sure she's ok, but don't be creepy, you _do _hardly know the girl.”

My stomach twisted with that same feeling. It was making me anxious, I’d even had Ray hack school files and get me her address so I could check on her later if I wanted to.

I still hadn't placed it, it wasn't anything I had ever felt before. Ever sense that dream, which I now could not remember any of.

"But do make sure she's ok," Ava chimed up, looking thoughtful. "If something is wrong we should help." There was a worried pause. "Shame though, her brothers were cute!"

Despite all of it we all giggled. I felt better, feeling grateful again for my wonderful friends.

The rest of the day was good, I still worried about Mia. But the day ended and I was ready to get to rehearsal.

The new costume girl that they had let on was supposed to be good.

Some of the technical aspects of the show needed to be operated on stage, so even though Ray and I had no lines, we had costumes to not stand out as we moves set pieces around.

"Hey," Sara said. I helped move the table then turned to face her. "They have a costume for you to try on."

"Yay, alright!" I said, I loved costumes and I couldn't wait to try one. I had always loved the time era of this play, wearing the beautiful old dresses made me feel at peace. I was often teased that I had been born in the wrong era.

"Hey, I heard you needed to fit me for a costume?" I said, but then I stopped.

It was him, Mia’s brother who had run away from me. The one who had stared at me. Of course, the new costume girl was the new girl Laurel, the one who was dating his brother. She was giving me that look, why? Why?

They were all really starting to freak me out. That feeling was back and my stomach was twisted into knots. A weight was pressing on my chest that did not make sense. The blonde, Laurel, was swearing under her breath. That was it, I had enough!

"Why do you all keep doing that?" I yelled, feeling my face flush. "You all just stare at me or cuss at me! And then Mia, I don't know what you guys did but she didn't go to class today!" I took a breath and asked what had been on my mind all day.

"Is she ok?" Asking it alone made me feel better.

_He _reacted to that. "What do you mean? Did something happen to her?" I shook my head, still angry. I was not an angry person! I never yelled! I was seriously freaked out with myself. There was now a knot in my throat and I felt on the verge of tears.

"Yes!" I shrieked. "Some people were messing with her and went I told them off she ran away and started to cry! I sat there with her while she cried for minutes! Then your brother came and took her out of school! Something is wrong with her and you don't even notice!”

I got in his face, then, trying to make him understand, trying to understand my self.

Then I don't remember anything, except the feeling like I was falling. Then I heard a name.

Oliver.

* * *

Oliver

"She wasn't hurt was she?" Mia asked, looking worried. It was close to midnight, but we were all still wide awake. We were too keyed up and our excitement had lasted and slipped into nostalgia.

Laurel, Tommy and I told stories, Mia listening with rapt attention, even though she had heard them several times before. She had talked about her day, what had happened that morning.

"She will be fine, she will just be a little sleepy for the rest of today." Laurel said, she was curled up in Tommy's arms, looking much happier.

"I still can't believe it. This morning when I saw her I just cried, and she hugged me and told me it was going to be ok..." Mia said, her face bright. "I'm going to get to know my mom."

She took another sip of her drink. "I don't even know how its possible." She downed the last of her drink. "I'm out of blood. I think that means it's time for me to go to sleep." She grinned.

"Good night dear," Laurel said. Tommy grinned at her and handed her his glass.

"Goodnight Mia," I said, standing and kissing my daughter on the head. She smiled and walked away. "This day has been too good to be true."

"Well brother I'm happy for you." Tommy said. "You found her again." I sat and took a long draught of my drink. All of us sat in silence for a long time.

There was a knock on the door. All of us sat up straight. Tommy and I leapt to our feet and I crossed to the door. We hadn't had anyone discover us in two countries. Who else could it possibly be this late? My heart thumped in my chest as I opened the door.

It was Felicity.

She had on an oversized T-shirt with jeans. Her hair was soaking wet and I could tell she had been crying.

"I think I'm going crazy." She whispered. Then she sank to her knees.

* * *

**EEEK! Cliff hangers as an author is one of the most satisfying things! I have been looking forward to this chapter (and the next few) since the beginning!**

**NEXT: What happened to Felicity?! Why is she there? My own little hint, the next chapter title is Terrors(!!)**

**Want to find out sooner than a week!? Leave a comment, if we can get the story to 25 I’ll post the next chapter Thursday, and trust me, you want to read what happens next!**

**Love you readers, get excited! Let me know what you think!**


	7. Terrors

**YOU GUYS! I can’t believe it! The response to the last chapter was incredible, I loved reading everyone’s comments! We hit my goal and then some!**

**Well, I don't want to keep you waiting so here is the next chapter! Let’s find out what happened to Felicity in the last chapter!**

**(Warning: Panic Attack over traumatic memories)**

* * *

Felicity

Perfume. Sara and I bought this for Ava’s 17th birthday.

_Oliver._

I opened my eyes, or at least tried to. Everything was still fuzzy. The only thing keeping me sane in the moment was the familiar touch of Ava and Sara on either side of me, their voices echoing around me.

I was scared, more scared than I had ever been in my life.

Something was wrong with me, something was very wrong. My stomach was still twisted, and my head hurt, like there was something weighing on my brain that I couldn't remember or understand.

"What happened?" My voice sounded off, and weird. "I thought I was grabbing a costume?"

“What happened Queen!" I could hear Sara scream. I wanted to cry, something was very wrong. I had missed something, everyone was upset. I took a deep shuddering breath.

"Felicity, it's ok. Hey let's stand up." Ava pulled me to my feet. I heard _him _call my name. I shuddered_, _I wasn't in control of how I felt anymore, and I had no idea what I was feeling.

"Felicity were going to take you home.” Ava continued to measure me, while Sara continued to make not so thinly veiled threats under her breath, her grip on he unwaveringly stable.

Both of them had their arms around me, I hugged both of them and tried to calm down. "I'm sorry guys, that just freaked me out." I wiped my eyes. I couldn't even talk right, my voice stuttered and shook.

"You have nothing to apologize for!" Sara insisted. They pushed away anyone who tried to talk to me. But it didn't stop me from seeing a flash of blonde hair helping _him _to his feel.

I was put into Ava's car. Both of them kept giving each other weird looks, like they were having a conversation without me. I was normally a part of these.

I just concentrated on taking deep breaths, in, and out. They pulled into my house, grabbed my stuff and we went inside.

"So is some one going to tell me what happened?" I asked. I was finally felt back to some form of normal.

All three of us were sitting on my bed, with several packages of cookies, chips and candy in between us. This was good. This was something that happened all the time.

"Well," Sara said, they looked at each other. "We were going to ask you that..."

"What? Why?" I asked, pausing in opening a package of Oreo's.

"Well, you went in and then we could find you so we went looking." Ava said, looking at me with sympathy. “We found you passed out on the floor.”

“Did something happen in there?” Sara asked, the look she gave me made me sick to my stomach.

Oliver, I thought. It was the only thing I could remember, hearing his name echo around in my brain.

But I pushed it away. I had made that up, pulled it from the back of my mind.

"Look," I said, choosing my word carefully, the hysteria building back up in my throat. "I went in to get a costume, and I don't remember anything else. I don't know maybe I tripped." I said. "But that's all I remember" I added for good measure.

"I just fell guys, nothing else happened." I was getting worked up again.

"Ok, hey it's ok," Sara said, scooting over next to me. But I caught the look that she gave Ava. But I didn't ask, my brain was still so fuzzy. I didn't say anything to them, I didn't want them to worry. But something had happened that they weren't telling me.

"Everyone was freaking out when I woke up, I thought something had happened." I said, trying to prompt them.

"Oh don't be upset," Ava said scooting to my other side. I leaned my head on her shoulder. "I know you are freaked out, and embarrassed, I know you. But your going to be ok, we are going to stay with you." She took my hand in hers, and Sara took the other.

And they did stay, for hours and hours. We ate our way through almost all the food. We talked, and talked. I didn't mention _him_ again, and they never told me their secret.

"Thank you guys for coming," I said, it was about eight, and they needed to go home to their families.

"Sleep well,,” Sara said, hugging me, squeezing my hand.

"If you need anything tonight, even if you just want to talk, you can call, text, Face Time, anything, we'll be there for you," Ava said. "Love you,"

"You guys are the best." I said, I walked them out and waved both of their cars off. "Love you too!" I called after the two cars, and was met by honking.

Then I went back up to my room.

I crawled under the covers and let out a deep breath. Surprisingly enough, Ava and Sara had managed to make me feel better.

My friends always grounded me when nothing else would.

Being around them was the only thing that seemed to combat the feeling that I’d been hiding the past few days, the feeling like something was wrong no matter where I looked.

Maybe things would finally go back to normal...

* * *

Oliver

"Felicity!" I jumped to my feet, dashing to her side and trying to grab her,

She was sobbing, and tried to push me off of her. "Felicity please calm down." I backed away as she flailed, then she sat down and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Get away from me! Stay away, you can't trust me..." She dug her nails into her temple.

"What happening to me?” She hurled the accusation at all of us. I knelt down to help her but she backed away scrambling back against the wall.

"Hey, it's ok, were going to help you." Laurel said, her and Tommy took steps closer.

Both of them were pale, Laurel was holding on to Tommy;s arm so tightly her knuckles were white.

"You need to stop or you're going to hurt yourself.” She whispered.

They both held themselves still. We were all trying to stay calm, all trying to make sure we didn’t scare her.

But she just shook her head furiously. "I already did!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

That stopped us, and we stood there in shock.

Tommy reacted. As I stood there horrified as he crouched down and pulled her hands from her temple and held them down. She didn't fight, and stood there.

Looking at all of us with a terrible look, one I never wanted to see on my wife's face. She gasped and stopped crying.

I couldn't move, couldn't speak, just watched as Laurel knelt in front of her. "Look, you need to tell us what happened."

Her lip quivered, and tears spilled over. "I'm going crazy." She whispered again.

* * *

Felicity

I woke up with a gasp, I was breathing hard, and my head hurt. I slammed my hand around the table until I had the light. It hurt my eyes as I scrambled out of bed.

I sank to my knees, it was back, everything just felt so _wrong_. My hair my skin, no longer felt like my own.

That feeling was racing through my veins. It had taken over everything, over my heart.

Pictures, and sounds were flashing across my brain. I saw so many thing I had never seen before.

Laurel in a yellow dress with flowers and rocks flying around my head.

Mia's brother Tommy standing by a carriage and laughing his head off.

Today, him_, Oliver, _holding me, kissing my forehead.

Me, holding a baby.

I shook my head and gasped, my heart was beating so fast. I didn't know these people, I didn't have a memory of _him_ kissing me, and I DIDN'T have a baby!

Oliver, It ran through my head over and over. I stood up and stumbled toward the bathroom. I flipped on the light and looked at my reflection.

I was pale, and sweating and shaking.

Images flashed again, it was the baby again, I was holding her and telling her I love her. I choked out a sob as the feeling surged up, almost knocking me over.

None of this was real! It can't be real!

I wiped the tears away, I needed to get a grip. I quickly stripped and stepped into the shower. The water helped, I closed my eyes and let it run down my face. I pushed my hair back and then felt a twinge on my arm.

I blinked the water away and looked.

My heart shuddered to a stop. No. This wasn't right. More pictures, I was drowning I can't breathe, the water was suffocating me. Water was filling my lungs, and I had to protect, someone. I stumbled back and turned the water off. I reached and grabbed a towel, I wrapped it around myself and looked again, not believing my eyes.

I had cut myself, I had cut myself. There was a two-inch cut, perfectly straight, across my upper forearm, right across a blue vein. I had cut myself. My shirt had covered it.

I slipped and fell, hitting the shower floor hard.

"No, no no please." I whispered, crying openly now.

What was happening to me? I was cutting myself, I was hallucinating, and my heart felt like it would burst.

I scrambled back to my room, I pulled on the first clothes I could find, grabbed my keys and took off running. I slammed the car door and dropped the keys. I slammed both fists on the wheel, over and over. I kept seeing pictures more and more of them. I grabbed the key and pulled out of the drive way.

Pictures, pictures and sounds. I refused to give them the name that was making me sick. They were pictures, I refused to even… Not pictures…

_Memories._

I started driving, I just drove and drove, and I knew where I was going. I had gotten the address earlier today…

"What's happening to me!?" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was not in control anymore. I was not in control of my heart, of my head anymore.

The feeling had taken over my heart, and I still was fighting the feeling that I couldn't breathe. It was Oliver, his name was Oliver.

I slammed on the breaks, I was outside a quiet plain house. I stumbled out and to the door. I hung onto a rail and tried to collect myself.

I was cutting myself, I was seeing things that weren't true.

The idea of water touching my skin made me want to scream.

These people, I didn't know them. The feeling had surged up, and I hung on so I didn't fall over. Why, what was going on?

I raised my hand, closed my eyes.

I was drowning. I was hurting myself. I holding the baby, with him, Oliver,as he leaned over, kissing me.

I knocked on the door. The light hurt my eyes as it opened.

"I think I'm going crazy." I whispered, letting go and falling to my knees, sobbing.

* * *

**EEK! She is remembering! What are the ramifications of realizing that you died?! Poor Felicity and Oliver, each one of them has it so bad. I hate (<strike>love</strike>) putting them through this, but surely now that she knows things will get better… Right?**

**NEXT: People have a lot of explaining to do… (Title Spoiler: Confrontations)**

**ALSO, because you guys are so amazing and left so many amazing comments on the last chapter, next week I am also going to post two chapters next week two (Which is good for you guys as they are just as intense as this one, maybe more so...)**

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter!**


	8. Confrontations

**Another Monday posting! Let’s get right to it!**

* * *

Oliver

Tommy still had her arms pinned to her side. She was sobbing, gut wrenching cries. "Who are you?!" She yelled at me, but I still stayed frozen.

My eyes flicked upstairs, Mia had to be asleep, she could sleep through anything. I wished down to my soul that she would stay asleep, stay out of this.

"Felicity, sit down," Tommy said, but she finally pulled away, she backed up and looked at me, at all of us.

"I keep imagining that I’m drowning," All the wind was knocked out of me, and I took a step backward. I wanted to hug her, to hold her, tell her everything was going to be ok. But she remembered how she died, and she was hysterical.

“I keep drowning, I keep seeing things that never happened, I am cutting myself, and you!” Finally turning all of her attention to me, waving her arms. She walked right up to my face. "It's all because of you, I keep seeing _you_." She stressed the words, as if she was trying to convey her agony through that one word.

"You're cutting yourself?" Laurel finally spoke. Felicity turned and looked at her best friend, I knew Laurel well enough to see she was barely holding it together. "Let me see..."

Felicity stood there, trembling, struggling with the decision of what to do. All of a sudden she pushed back her sleeve.

"No," Laurel and I both said, it was where we had gotten blood for the spell. "Felicity that's not your fault." I said, reaching out to touch her, for the first time.

"Yes it is! Don't you get it! I'm crazy," She looked at me. "I know you!" Her voice got quiet, tears spilled over. I still couldn't move, I couldn't even comfort her. "Oliver, your name is Oliver. How do I know that? How do I know who you are?”

As upset as she was, I could see the edge of steel within her, as the scales tipped more towards anger. 

“None of this, _none of it, _is strange to you guys,” She shouted. “I keep seeing things, and all of you seem like you were sitting here waiting for me.”

She took a deep breath, she was shaking so bad. She took a deep breath, like it was painful to do so. "_What happened to the baby girl?"_

It was like someone punched me in the gut. I took a step back, finally cracking up, I shook my head as tears formed.

Laurel was almost green with her hands pressed over her mouth. Tommy looked upstairs, tight-lipped. Her head whipped around to look at all of us.

She went white, shaking her head furiously. She feared the worst. "What happened to her?!" She screamed out, burying her face in her hands and sinking to the floor again.

None of us seemed to be able to move. I wanted to, I really wanted to.

"Felicity..." It was the only thing that came out. She looked at me then flinched, shaking her head, and started sputtering.

Finally Tommy moved, "Breathe, you are not drowning, breathe." He sat down next to her. "She's fine Felicity, she is safe, and healthy, we never let anyone hurt her." For the first time since she arrived, Felicity stopped, taking several deep yet shaky breaths.

"Tommy," She whispered. "How do I know you? How do I know so much about all of you?" She looked at Laurel. "Why am I hurting myself?" Tommy's wife sat next to him and reached for her other hand.

Laurel was near tears as she spoke. "You are not hurting yourself Felicity, and you are not crazy." She looked up at me. I stood and watched them.

She wouldn't look at me, she hadn't met my eyes since she screamed at me.

"I am crazy, look at me!" Felicity said, she wasn't crying anymore. Her voice, all of her, was still shaking. She bared her arm to Laurel, I could see her heart breaking at the sight of the cut.

"That wasn't you Felicity, if you just listen, we can explain." Tommy was speaking, it was strange to see him so calm and serious. What was worse was she was listening, calming down but still...

"I am so sorry," Laurel said, "We just wanted to know if it was you..." It was the wrong thing to say. For a long second it was dead silent, all the calm slowly drained from Felicity's face.

"It was you?" Then she glanced at me. "It was both of you?" She took a deep breath. "No, today, it was today when I passed out, you did something to me and hurt me!”

She scrambled to her feet, screaming again. “You're not going to help me, you're the reason I'm like this! It's all you!"

She ran, she tried to run away, she couldn't leave now. She was so upset, she would hurt somebody, or herself. "Felicity, wait," I ran after her.

"Stay away from me!" She yelled, she was almost at the door.

She can't leave! She really would hurt herself. I jumped as the door opened. It slammed close as I slammed into her. I grabbed her and spun her so she wouldn't get hurt.

* * *

Felicity

I wrenched the door open. I had to run I had to get away!

They were the ones who hurt me. My head hurt so much. Then suddenly something hit me, the momentum carried me around, and I was face to face with Oliver.

He was close, way to close. I could see his eyes so clearly.

No! I closed my eyes tight and tried to be small. If I looked at him, the memories got worse, the feelings grew stronger, and I just felt sad, and hopeless. I couldn't look at him!

"Felicity," He said, he was so close. His arms were holding me up, I was backed up against the door. "Felicity please look at me." I shook my head, tears had started to fall down my face.

"You know what's happening to me," It wasn't a question. "Why is all this happening? Who are you?" He moved closer, I could feel his breath.

"Open your eyes," He said, I shook my head. I was still crying, I couldn't seem to stop. "Please, you will know who I am if you just open your eyes."

I did. The rush of images came back, I saw us laughing, us dancing, me shouting at him, him hugging me, kissing me, going down on one knee, with a black box. I took a deep breath.

"It's me, please Felicity remember," His eyes were full of tears too, it made me feel even worse, I didn't want him to be sad.

"I don't know you, I met you yesterday."

He leaned forward and kissed me. I froze as a whole new wave crashed over me. It was different, but it was so welcome and different...

He was kissing me as if my life depended on it...

It was silence, all the panic, all the rage, the hurt, and the feeling was all gone. It was blissfully empty, and for the first time I felt completely normal. I craved more, wanting a break, just one more chance to feel normal again.

Then I realized what I was doing, and pushed him away, shoving him again and again to get him away from me. As soon as I did everything was back, the rage, the hurt, the panic, all added to a new feeling of horror.

He just looked at me, his eyes wide, he looked horrified too. It made a difference, I still felt all those things, some stronger than ever before. It was now a permanent part of me.

You would have thought he had been given the world, then had it ripped away. The other guy, Tommy, just stared at us wide-eyed. Laurel looked as if she wanted to move between us, like she didn't know if I was going to hit him again or what. I still wasn't sure myself.

Every time I slipped up, I was drowning. Every time I closed my eyes, water was filling my lungs and I could feel my heart stopping. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. And not once, _once_ had the mentioned the baby girl again!

"Explain, explain everything. Now," I said, I looked into his eyes. This had to make sense, I need to know, all of this had to stop.

* * *

Oliver

I stared at Felicity, I wanted to move forward and kiss her again. But the way she was looking at me...

"I'll explain everything, just please sit down." She didn't move. "Felicity, I know you don't trust any of us, but if you sit down then we can explain everything that's been happening to you."

She backed even farther into corner, and kept looking at the door. She closed her eyes, I could tell she was panicking, she was in a bad place. I had seen her like this before, I was worried about her.

"Hey Felicity, please," Tommy pleaded. "I think you know we won't hurt you." She looked at him with a longing desperation, she wanted to believe him. "Sit down, listen and we will tell you about everything, ok?" Tears started to flow down her face again. "We will tell you anything, you want to know about the baby right?" Her eyes widened.

"She's fine Felicity, let us explain and we will tell you everything." She nodded at Tommy, biting her lip.

I watched as she took a step back. She sat in the corner with her knees drawn up, like she was shielding herself from all of us. But she was still here...

"It's alright Felicity," Laurel said to her, sinking back into her chair. Wincing as she flinched at the sound of her voice. "Please don't be afraid of us," Tommy moved to the side of Laurel's chair.

She just looked at us. I was struck by another wave of silence, I just stared at her. It was my wife, I had never seen her so distraught. "Well..." She asked, her voice wavered, but it did spur me to action.

"It was a curse," I said, her breath caught. She looked as if she was struggling with the desire to run again. I couldn't do this, I moved a little closer to her, wanted to wrap my arms around her, but she curled into herself tighter. "You're starting to remember us, I know you are."

"Why should I remember any of you." She asked, nails digging into her temple again.

"Because back in 1823, you were a part of our family." Tommy said, giving her one of his smiles, but it didn't work this time.

"That's not possible, 1823 was almost two hundred years ago! How could you, much less I, have been alive then?"

"Because, my brother and I are vampires, we have been alive for almost two hundred and fifty years." I said, with some trepidation. She laughed, but it was a horrible loud and strangled laugh that gave way to more tears.

This was not good, all I was doing was hurting my wife. I just wanted to hold her.

She closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths. But she seemed to be fighting something else, and gasped a few times.

"Your not drowning Felicity," Tommy said. Her eyes snapped open, but the tension did seem to leave. 

I still couldn't get over the fact that she had kissed me back, that for one single second, it felt like I'd had my Felicity back once more. 

* * *

**This chapter was short and sweet, I thought about combining it with the next, chapter, but I decided that would be too much.**

**Felicity and Oliver kissed! Maybe not the best moment to do so, but I promise the effect that it has on both of them will play out in the chapters to come.**

**NEXT, we wrap up this scene, all the cards go on the table. Also, something major happens, because as you may have noticed, someone very important has been missing these past few chapters…**

**Tune in for the next chapter: Reunions!**

**Can’t wait to hear what you guys think! Please leave me a comment/review!**


	9. Reunions

**PEOPLE! This was the chapter that inspired the whole fic, it will always be super special to me and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Felicity 

Vampires, of course, the terrible part was that it didn't even hurt, or shock me.

It was like I already knew. I could see it too, I saw him. I saw his brother, both of them and the blood, but then I heard yelling and screaming and I was drowning again.

Tommy spoke and I brought me out of it, but I just looked at him, at Oliver. I wanted him to speak, he had kissed me and it had silenced all the crazy that had gone on in my brain. He somehow was helping me stay sane.

It was hard to look at any one of them too long. When I did I saw pictures heard sounds, all at such an intensity and speed that I couldn't see or understand. I just looked down and listened.

"I met a girl, Felicity Smoak, you..." I could hear _his_ voice, and I wanted to look up. "I loved her…”

My head snapped up. I met his eyes, and everything went quiet again. I was struck by the enormous wave of emotions. I did not know this guy, I had no idea who he was, yet I was crying in his house, and he kissed me.

I looked down and panic was back, I needed to run, I needed to get out of there, I jumped to my feet. But through blurry vision I caught another picture, it was me and the baby.

I was hit in the gut, sitting back down, taking deep breaths. This was the reason I was staying. I was staying for the baby girl, because she was important somehow. I just wanted to know what had happened.

One quick glance up showed the room looking horrified. I was acting crazy, again.

"I courted you for months," Oliver spoke fast now, like he was afraid that I would run away again. "I told you that I was a vampire and I kissed you for the first time. I loved you more than anything, but you died." He trailed off, and I knew what he didn't want to say. As if he could protect me from what kept replaying in my brain.

"I was murdered." I whispered, the words so bitter and disgusting in my mouth. I had been drowned, by the quick glance at the members of the room, I knew I was right.

I was breathing deep again. My fingernails dug into my arms, the pain helping me not remember.

"Yes," Oliver said, he got up at that point and did come and sit next to me.

The silence was good. "The baby, did they hurt her too?" My voice got high. I felt my brain, it was like I had crossed over into the Twilight Zone, where everything was real and nothing made sense.

"No!" They all said, all talking at once.

"She was fine.”

"I would have killed them.”

"We protected her."

I was crying again, but the one question that had burned my brain for hours burst out. "Is that baby girl mine?" No, she couldn't be.

"She's ours," Oliver said. My mouth snapped shut and I'm sure that I turned multiple shades of red. "We were married Felicity, and we had a baby. You died protecting her. You died protecting our daughter." I could hear a distinct note of protection. I was hyperventilating. It wasn't true!

I didn't think anything could get worse. No, that wasn't true. Anything but that, all the pictures couldn't make it better. If it was true, then I had failed, I was a horrible mother.

"I don't believe you, I'm seventeen. I can't have a daughter!" I felt like I was going to be sick, guilt stronger than anything I had ever felt rose in my throat, choking me.

“You guys are just making all of this up. It's not real." I whimpered, but I can't... It can't be... I had left her, I had abandoned her, I had abandoned my daughter!

"Felicity," Laurel said but I stood up.

"I'm leaving and If you try to stop me I will call the police." I had to get out, even though my head was hurting more than ever, and I couldn't see for all the pictures.

"I don't have a tie to any of you! That was the other girl! Not me, that baby is not mine! Please leave me alone and just let me go back to my life, please!" I could not be responsible for this guilt.

"Just calm down please," Oliver asked me, reaching forward and tentatively touched my hand my hand. It felt like it had been burned and I wrenched it away from him.

"I don't want her!" I screamed, the lie cutting a hole in my heart. I had to get away, this could not be me.

I can’t have failed all of them.

"I don't want to be your long-lost love! I don't want to be married to you and I don't want that baby! You're vampire! I'm a human and I don't want..."

* * *

Oliver

I listened and watched this Felicity, she was not my Felicity, fall to pieces. I had seen people fall into madness before. She looked like the people who we used to try and help in the old asylums, this was all to much for her.

I tried to touch her, to comfort her. She pulled away from me though, jumping to her feet again.

"I don't want her!" Her words shocked all of us, and for the first time I wondered if I would ever get my Felicity back. "I don't want to be your long lost love! I don't want to be married to you and I don't want that baby!"

I saw Tommy's face. Even though he had loved Felicity like a sister, he had comforted, protected, and loved his niece for longer.

"You're vampire! I'm a human and I don't want..."

I flinched, and before I could do or say anything Tommy launched himself up, towards her. She screamed and he grabbed her, turning her around and pinning her arms to her side.

"Tommy stop!" I yelled running to Felicity. Her eyes were wide, and she was panicking.

Laurel was yelling at her husband. "Tommy!" I yelled, grabbing his arm but he threw me off. He dragged her away towards the stairs.

"Help! Please help me! Please stop, let me go!" Felicity screamed, Trying to pull away, I was trying to help her but Tommy just dragged her kicking and screaming up the stairs.

"Whats going on!?" Mia yelled, sprinting from her room, her hair messed up and in an old T-shirt and bright yellow pajama pants. She had her knife in her hand, but she froze as Tommy deposited Felicity on the stairwell.

"Well," Tommy said, "Here she is, look at her and tell us that you don't want her." I saw Mia's face. I stepped over Felicity who was curled in a ball on the floor, towards my daughter. She had dropped the knife and had her hands clamped over her mouth.

"Well!" Tommy whispered at Felicity, she whimpered and curled up on herself more. "Look at your daughter!" He said, his voice breaking, Laurel reached out to him.

I reached Mia and pulled her close, feeling her shaking. She buried her face into me, hiding from her mother. My breath was getting short and I knew I was close to losing it, I had lost my wife all over again and now Mia was about to have her heart destroyed.

* * *

Felicity

I gasped for breath, my arms wrapped around my head. I lay at their feet, trying to move away from him.

Tommy kept telling me to look. I had never meant it. I just wanted to get out of there, I was so scared.

"Look at your daughter!" I wrapped my arms over my head, trying to block out everything. I felt some one pulling me to my feet. Laurel's voice echoing all around me.

"Tommy let her go you're making this worse, Oliver get her out of here." My arms dropped as I could feel Laurel's gentle hands pulling me away.

I opened my eyes and saw Oliver looking at me with wide eyes, but what stopped my heart was the smaller girl who was clinging to his side, he had his arms around her and was trying to lead her away. She had hair that curled in the back just like mine did...

"Wait!" I gasped, Laurel let go of me in a second and Oliver closed his eyes, arms tightening around the girl.

I took a step towards them, my breath shuddering.

How could I have been so stupid, the only memories I had of her were from when she was a baby, but she wasn't a baby anymore. "Mia?" I asked, my voice breaking.

She peeked out from behind her dad and I gasped.

She looked so much like him, but she was mine. This was my baby. She had my eyes, my exact eyes.

She was breathing deep like me, shaking as bad as I was. My baby was all grown up, how had I not known from the moment I first saw her?

Everyone around us had gone silent, Tommy was gripping Laurel's arm, both looked as if they would jump at me if I made the wrong move.

Oliver, I couldn't look at him for long, his eyes were closed like he was trying not to cry.

"Mia," I whispered again, tears streaming down my face, I took a step towards her. Tommy made as if to stop me but...

"Stop," Mia said, looking terrified at her uncle. She pulled out of her dad's grip and took a step towards me, she kept looking at her uncle.

I could see him nod at her, his jaw tight, Laurel holding him back.

She took a step forward, towards me. I stood there, my breathing ragged. She took another step towards me, she was shaking so bad but she wasn't crying.

I got to look at my daughter fully for the first time. She was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. She looked so much like me, there was no denying that she was mine.

The whole hall was eerily silent as we looked at each other. She had her arms wrapped around herself and her lip was quivering.

But she wasn't crying, well that was me. "Mia," I whispered again, I don't even think she could hear me.

That feeling had overtaken every nerve in my body, tears streamed down my face. I reached out a hand, hesitating as she flinched.

But I just brushed her hair back.

All I could see was my baby girl being wrenched from my arm, all the screaming, they had taken her away from me. "I'm so sorry," I said, watching her face shatter into a million pieces.

She threw her arms around me and I was hugging her. She fit into my arms perfectly, I had my hand on the back of her head, trying to comfort her. Some how my knees had given out and we were sitting, and my daughter was buried into my neck.

"Shhhh," I whispered, hearing and feeling her start to sob. I rocked back and forth, no longer crying myself.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, me holding on to Mia. I knew the others were still there, but they didn't matter any more.

All that mattered was that I had my daughter back. This was where I belonged.

After a while, when she had stopped crying, she pulled away and I got to see her face again. It still hit me in the gut every time, how this could be my child. I had gone from a child myself to a mother in ten minutes.

There was now no doubt in my mind that all of this was real. I brushed her hair back from her face, trying to memorize every inch.

A new pain, as two hundred years of not being able to hold my daughter, struck me. I just looked at her, and she did the same with me. I loved her, I loved Mia with everything I had.

How could I have ever said those wicked things, she was mine. My baby girl. She leaned back in and I wrapped her in my arms, holding her close, being her mother.

I saw Oliver kneel beside us, and I flinched away from him. No matter what had happened, I still hadn't quite accepted _him_ yet. "Come on," he said, his voice thick as he wrapped an arm around Mia and tried to pull her to her feet.

“No," I said, scrambling to get up, pulling my daughter back towards me. She moved to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. My arms around her shoulders I swallowed back another wave of tears. "You are not going to take her away from me again!"

He looked like I had slapped him, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Felicity, please, we need to figure out what to do next. We need to get you home, before anyone notices you're gone." His tone didn't match the words he was saying.

I tried not to look at him and see the memories. But I could still see them anyway.

A wave of exhaustion swept over me, and I could feel myself falling. Mia cried out and fell with me as I sat down hard. I could hear them all talking about stress and overload.

The whole time Mia didn't let go of me. I swore never to let her go again.

Then my hands caught fire as Oliver grabbed them and helped me up. "We're going to take you home, sleep and we will figure this out tomorrow."

No.

"Stop!" I cried out, but my voice was still quiet, he had taken her away. "Let me go, just let me go! Don't take her away from me again! Please!" I tried twisting from his arm, but simply didn't have the energy for it anymore. "Mia, Mia!"

I could see her, her hands twisted in her hair. Her aunt and uncle were holding her back, keeping her away from me!

"Please don't make me go!" I said before blackness rose up to meet me.

* * *

**Poor Felicity, she had gone through so much. But now she knows, now the real work begins. Also, poor Oliver, he only want the best for Felicity and Mia… Tommy might be acting rash, but everyone is acting a little irrationally, and everyone is in pain, nobody knows what the right thing to do is.**

**I love all my Mia/Felicity interactions, and I can wait because now they can begin to build a relationship with each other.**

**Next week (back to normal once a week posting), in flashbacks, we see Felicity dealing with vampirism for the first time, and in the present we see what happens the day after all of this has come out, how everyone is feeling…**

**LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!**


	10. Repercussions

**Hello! I miss posting twice a week! BUT, grad school is upon us all and I have no time, so we are back to Saturday posting!**

**I’m really excited for this next part of the story, we see the direct fallout from all the secrets being revealed, and we also start a subplot in the flashbacks where at least there Oliver and Felicity are on the same team!**

* * *

Oliver

I slammed the door to the car, sagging against it. I was exhausted, the only time that I had ever felt this tired was the week after Felicity's death. Laurel walked around the car and put her arm on my shoulder. I pulled on my hair, trying hard not to cry.

When it had become too much, Felicity had simply passed out. With Mia screaming I reassured her she would be fine, Laurel helping me get her back home.

Tommy had stayed with Mia.

The only thing that Felicity had any interest in was Mia.

While I could not be any more happy that she had finally met her mother, Felicity had almost seamed to hate me. She had pulled away even though I had felt the same sparks, I had even kissed her. She still hated me.

"I'm so sorry," Laurel said, her voice comforting, but I didn't want it.

"That wasn't her," I said, my voice low and horse. "I thought she would be my Felicity, that she would want me... I mean, Mia... I'm happy..." I couldn't even make complete sentences. I pulled away from her and threw open the door to the house. I stormed into the living room and came to a stop.

Mia was sitting on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest. Her head was down but I could tell from her posture that she was crying. I forgot my own struggles in a second as I crossed the room to my daughter.

I pulled her into my arms and she cried into my shirt for several minutes while I rubbed her back. "Dad,"

"I know, I know," I said, kissing her forehead. "It's going to be ok though, we found her, we just need to give her some space."

"I heard the shouting... She said she didn't want," Mia wailed, and I panicked, I had never seen her this upset before.

"NO!" I cut her off, "Mia listen to me, she was scared. We hit her with more stuff today than we probably should have. She kept trying to leave but stayed to find out about you. You were the only thing she cared about. You saw her, the moment she saw you everything changed. She will get through this just to be with you."

It hurt deep in my heart to say it, but it was true and it was what she needed to hear. I lifted my daughters face and looked into her eyes, making sure she could see me. "She loves you and she wants you, we just have to give her time. I know this is not what you had planned, but we both need to be strong for her."

She nodded, her lip trembling. It hurt, it hurt all the way down to my soul to see her like this, to have seen both of them like this.

Mia leaned into my chest and I could hear her sniffling. "Can you please sit with me for awhile?"

"Of course Mia, I'll be right here..." I wrapped my arms around her, she cried for a bit longer before she fell asleep next to me on the couch.

It had been decades since I had needed to do this. After several more long hours I couldn't deal with it either, and I fell asleep.

* * *

Felicity

I woke up to my whole body feeling sore. I sat up and clutched my head, I had never had a hangover before. But I was pretty sure this was how it felt. I pushed the covers back, looking at my wrinkled clothes from last night.

I got two whole minutes of silence before the steady flow of memories flooded back. But I was able to push them back when I thought about the previous night. I stood up and grabbed the nightstand to steady myself.

I was trying to cry, but my throat was so sore and I had no more tears.

I was able to get to the bathroom, where I stuck my hands under the sink and gulped down handful after handful of water.

That helped more than I had thought.

I opened the cabinet and took two painkillers before finally getting up the courage to look in the mirror.

It was terrible, my hair was matted and tangled, crazy and frizzy and all in my face. My eyes were still so red and swollen, but the expression. I looked like I had lost it, but I had. I leaned forward, trying to see myself better.

I had been married, to a vampire. I was a mom, at that point I did start to cry, despite the pounding in my head.

There was an ache, down to my soul, when I thought about Mia. I had a daughter, a beautiful almost fully grown daughter.

I twisted my hands together, running my fingers over the scar.

I froze, assaulted with pictures of a man holding me down and slashing at me with a knife. It was over a wedding ring... My wedding ring.

I was married, and I had a daughter.

I clenched my eyes shut and tried to block it all out. I missed her, my arms physically ached from not holding her in my arms. I had missed out on every moment in my baby's life. I had missed everything.

There was no way I was leaving to go to school, not when everything I thought I had known had been ripped out from under me. I was stuck in a free fall with no end in sight. I was able to get back to my room. I crawled back into bed pulling the covers over my head.

I was so tired and so exhausted from trying to hold on to all of this, so I just let myself go, I could feel my eyes rolling back and the sounds and pictures rush to me.

_I sat in the study of the Queen home, well, my house. It was so strange to think that all of this was now mine, I had over half a year of marriage to get used to the idea... but living in this much splendor still amazed me._

_I missed my husband, he and his brother had taken the day to go into town to run errands and pick up some supplies. I also knew they were going to feed, something I had come to grips with, but chose to distance myself from._

_So I stayed behind with my sister-in-law, Laurel was out in the garden gathering leaves for something she had planned to show me. She had been more than wonderful to me, as a friend and as a mentor to all the supernatural aspects of the family I had married into._

_"I found all that I needed!" She called out joyfully, stepping into the room, in the yellow dress I had met her in and her hair undone, falling in thick blonde curls over her shoulders. She carried a small basket of leaves and despite my gasp dumped them onto the side table. "Oh don't worry I will clean it up." She said throwing her hair over her shoulders._

_"Just what are you planning on doing to the sitting room Laurel?" I asked, closing my copy of Great Expectations. But she merely hushed me, her eyes fully concentrated on the leaves. "Oh my," I gasped, when one leaf, jumped into the air and began to twirl and spin and loop in the air around us. I laughed with delight as one by one the others followed._

_"I knew it would work!" Laurel laughed, sounding triumphant and proud. We both watched the leaves dance around us for a while before with an elegant twirl of her wrist, they landed neatly back in the basket. "It's been so long since I've done that," she said, sitting on the couch beside me. "I can not wait to show Tommy!"_

_"Laurel," I tentatively said, even though she was like a sister to me, there were still some topics I did not breach. "Your magic, does if ever frighten you?"_

_She looked pensive for a long moment. "I used to live invincibly Felicity." She grinned but her eyes were wretched with nostalgia. I stared at her wide eyed but didn't speak. "I was more powerful that you could ever imagine, magic beyond anything I have ever found on earth. It's been so long, I'm still adjusting to being this weak." She wrinkled her lip._

_"You're amazing, Laurel." I spoke up, laughing. "Hard to image you having any more power, but why don't you have that anymore?" She smiled again, and sighed._

_"I fell in love," Her eyes twinkling and her grin sweet. "One look and I abandoned everything and everyone I have ever known. But the others like me, witches are aloof. They hated me, grew cold and bitter and violent with me. They said if I went with Tommy I would never be allowed back. I was one of the oldest, the most powerful. They just cast me out, ripping my magic from my veins as they did… They were supposed to be my family." She looked so sad again._

_"You have us now Laurel," I said, linking arms with her and leaning my head on her shoulder. "We're your family now." I made her smile and she shook her head._

_"I've never regretted it for a day. I watched Tommy for weeks before I finally left. I could hear my people cursing me as I ran towards him." I kept my arm around her._

_"They haven't bothered me since. I was in love, so I was a disgrace, deemed dead in their eyes. It took me years to try and master how magic worked as a human, I would have hurt so many people if Tommy hadn't been there."_

_I looked at her with new eyes, seeing the weight of what she could do reflected for the first time. "You could never hurt anyone Laurel, nor do I think you would ever want to."_

_She smiled at that and shook her head, "Thank you Felicity," She stood up and I could see her shaking the sadness out of her eyes. "I am going to fix us some lunch."_

_I smiled after her, and when she left the room, I felt sad for burdening my sister. But I knew she loved her life and her husband here._

_I had never had a best friend before..._

_I placed my hand on my stomach, feeling all the excitement and nervousness building up again. I wanted to cry with joy at times, If I was right, and I really was not sure..._

_I had been told before I got married the signs of carrying a child, and for the past two months I had experienced all of them._

_We had talked of children, he knew how much I had wanted them. He loved me, and wanted to honor my wishes. I knew though, he was scared._

_He did not feel as if I would want a child that was half of him, and I also knew he was terrified of being a father. He wanted me to be happy, but wanted to wait..._

_My heart beat loudly in my chest as I thought of me being a mother, something I had wanted all my life. The thought of having a baby, especially a baby with Oliver..._

_I knew once Oliver came home I would need to tell him, and hoped that he would not be upset, that he would be happy with me. I wished from the bottom of my heart that I was going to be a mother._

_Despite my firm belief in my husband's love for me, I was nervous to tell him. Scared to get my own hopes up and then it I be wrong. I looked down, please, I thought. Please let this be true... Please don't let him be upset._

I stayed there for so long, living through memories. Trying to see as much of this life as I could. I wanted to see more of Mia, my little girl whose life had been torn away from me. I had nothing, nothing of her! Memories of me being pregnant, and only three days of her life. I had been cheated, she was my daughter and I had missed everything!

I shook, tears running down my face. I was surprised that I could still cry, but was realizing that the sadness over my daughter ran deeper than anything. Also, the confusion of Oliver. I had loved him, with all of my heart. But now?

I felt the mattress move and someone siting next me. I froze before hearing Ava's voice, It was only them, they were safe, they didn't make my head hurt anymore than it already did.

"Felicity, hun, are you ok?" I felt a hand on my forehead. I just closed my eyes, I couldn't tell them. These were the people I loved and trusted more than anyone in the world and I couldn't tell them. "I need you to talk to us, what happened?" Sara had knelt next to me, trying to get me to talk.

"Move over," Ava said, climbing up into my bed. I did sit up and move as she scooted next to me, me just leaning on her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around me. "You didn't come to school today, we were worried about you." My breath was sharp. A whole day? I had missed a whole day? No, I had missed a whole life...

"Felicity what happened?" Sara asked sitting cross-legged on my bed. She looked so concerned for me, I guessed I was still crying. I just wished that would stop.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said, my voice thick. Ava nodded in agreement, but Sara didn't want to let it go.

"Did he do something to you?" She asked, looking sick. I froze, knowing who she was talking about. I couldn't say anything, but the memory of Oliver kissing me was all I could see. "I am going to kill him!" She yelled starting to stand up before I reached forward and grabbed her arm.

"Sara please!" I sounded desperate, but I didn't want her to go and get hurt. I didn't know how they would react. "Please, just stay here with me." I looked to Ava. "Both of you."

Of course we will," Ava reassured me. Sara still looked upset but moved to my other side. Our hands were intertwined, and I found myself drifting off again, my heart soared. I was going to get some rest.

* * *

**So, nobody is doing too great. Remember, it’s always darkest before the dawn… But truth be told, we have some things we need to handle first. **

**BUT! We have crossed the first big hurdle, _Oliver and Felicity_ have no more secrets!**

**A huge part of this story that I love and the different friendships, Felicity/Laurel in the past, and Ava, Sara/Felicity in the present. I can’t wait to explore these more as the story goes on!**

**Next week, more flashback, and a interaction between two characters who have not previously interacted!**

**Let me know what you thought! Comment Please!**


	11. Struggles

**Thank you all so much for your continued interest in this story! Enjoy!**

* * *

_Felicity_

_I was shaken out of my thoughts by a loud knock at the door. "I'll get it!" I called to Laurel. I strolled to the door, smoothing my dress. Did my stomach look any larger? Did that even mean anything?_

_I brightened my face with a smile and opened the door, only to be swept off my feet my brother-in-law._

_"Hey kid!" Tommy yelled, spinning me around before giving me a big hug. "It's great to be back home." He shed his coat and handing it to me went off to find his wife._

_I was aghast but still joyful. I turned to see Oliver, I beamed and wrapped my arms around him. Tommy's coat smashed between us, we broke apart laughing as he took it from me and hung it on the hook._

_"I didn't think you would be home until tomorrow night!" I did not get all the words out before he kissed me deeply, which I was very grateful for. He was a bit dirty and sweaty, and he did smell a bit, but he was my husband and he was home._

_"We decided to come home early, we missed the two of you!" He ran his hand down my cheek, I smiled at him. I had missed him, and the anticipation of my news was burning in my stomach and my throat. "Are you alright," He asked, taking my face in his hands._

_I was, but was suddenly so very nervous about telling him. What if didn't want a child with me. What if he didn't want me if I was with child? He was still looking down at me, running his hand down my face. "I have just missed you so very much," I said, smiling at him._

_His face lit up and he kissed me, I felt terrible for deceiving him. But he looked so happy, and I was his wife that was my job. So I kissed him back the followed him into the kitchen._

_"Oliver!" Laurel said, hugging him. "You're just in time, I have lunch all ready!" I helped her with the plates and we sat down and ate together as a family._

"I need you to stay with her, I can't do this anymore!" There was a movement close to me, I was so tired, and I wanted to know what happened next. What happened next to me... As much as I could see that he loved me, I had been scared to tell him about Mia.

"Think about what happens if she wakes up and you are not here. She trusted us to take care of her!" Ava snapped, but she wasn't angry at Sara.

"Yes, because we're doing such a great job?!" There was a pause, then a weight lifted from the mattress. "Ava I can't stay here. I'll be back before she wakes up." I could hear the door open and Ava let out a sigh.

I wanted to call out to my best friend, I didn't know how they would react if she showed up angry at them... but I didn't stay awake long enough to speak.

_"So what else did the two of you do?" I asked, taking a pair of shoes out of his suitcase. We were up on our floor of the house, after the long evening It was nice to be by ourselves. "Did you find a swamp to trek through?" I asked, his nice shoes were completely covered in mud._

_He laughed and took them from me. "It rained in the town we were in." He pulled another carpet-bag from the floor and set it next to the suitcase._

_"But did the two of you..." I pulled dirty clothes from the bag and folded them up. "Get something to eat?" I finished, handing them to him as he put them in the closet for me to wash later. Looking up to see him watching me._

_He looked up, apprehensive. "Yes, we did." I waited for him to add more but he just asked. "So what did you and Laurel do?"_

_"I read a lot, the book you lent me is amazing." I started, walking over to his side of the bed, kissing the side of his face. "We talked, ate dinner together every night. It was just a weekend of quiet, sometime that's nice. A person can ponder thoughts she couldn't when company is around."_

_"Are you alright?" He said laughing. He took my hand and we sat on the bed. "Since when have I been company, and what kind of thoughts did you need to ponder?" He looked worried, I knew that this was not natural behavior._

_I think I may be with child. I thought it in my head, but he had just come home. I couldn't make the words come out of my mouth. I just kissed him again, but he pulled away, trying to grab my arm as I stood up and walked away._

_"Let's just get you unpacked tonight," I said, reaching for the last bag that we needed to unload._

_"No!" He yelled, standing up and scaring me. But I had already opened the bag._

_It was one of his nice white dress shirts, it had been shoved haphazardly in the bag. It was covered in blood. I stood there gasping for a minute, just looking at the shirt._

_"Felicity," He said, moving slowly towards me, his hands up in signs of submission. "Felicity are you alright?" I couldn't speak, I just kept looking._

_I had no disillusions about what my husband was. But seeing the proof, something that he had blissfully kept from me. I pressed one hand over my heart and one on my stomach._

_The baby, I could not tell him now, not in a moment like this. _

_He touched my arm and I pulled away. He looked horrified and backed all the way up to the opposite wall. The secret I had tried to tell him I hid deep in my heart. I could not tell him now._

_"What happened?" My voice was low._

_"It was an animal, I swear. It was roaming around the edge of the town, we were hungry and it helped out the town believe me." He sounded frantic, it made me wonder what my face looked like._

_I could not tell him anything now. Not when I was afraid of him. I was his wife, it was my job to accept him._

_"Then I will just try to clean this for you," My hands shaking as I picked up the shirt, not touching any of the red. "If I can't take care of it we can get you a new one."_

_He walked over to me and tore the shirt from my hands and threw it to the door. "Stop." He looked at me, and I was determined not to move away from him. He slowly crept towards me until. He placed his hands on the tops of my arms and his forehead against mine. "Don't be frightened of me." He whispered._

_I wasn't, "I'm not scared of you," I whispered, he kissed my forehead. "I love you, you are my husband. I knew who and what you were when we were married. It was just shocking to see it be so real." I looked into his eyes. "I am not scared of you." If I said it enough times..._

_I was crushed to him in a hug, his hands winding in my hair. No, tonight was not the night to tell him, tonight was my night of silence... Tomorrow._

* * *

Oliver

I sat on the couch, flipping through an old book of mine. It was the only thing I could do anymore without feeling as if I was going crazy. The whole house had been a mess for the past few days.

Mia had spent the next day in a slump, refusing to go to school. She had shut herself in her room and would only talk to me.

Tommy had been angry, at himself, for what he had done to Felicity. He knew now how absolutely scared she had been, he had just pushed her past that point.

Laurel had tried to comfort all of us, but the guilt and stress of the day were getting to her too.

It was not a good day in the house. I shut my copy of Great Expectations as Mia came down the stairs. Her hair was fizzy and her eyes sunken with dark circles. She looked terrible. I stood, crossing to her. "You need to eat now,"

"I know," She whispered, even her voice was going. I followed her into the kitchen, making sure she took a bag from the fridge. "Whenever you miss Mom you read that book," She said, her voice growing thick, and not with hunger.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and I put my hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I told you. This was the book she was reading when we found out we were going to have you. For awhile there she wanted your middle name to be Pip." She laughed, and despite being sad she still smiled. "We are going to get her back Mia, it's just going to take time."

"You don't know that, you thought she was dead for so long. She hasn't been back since she freaked out, I don't think she wants to see us." She drained the bag and pulled out another. It wasn't healthy for her to starve herself like that.

"When I first told Felicity about what I was she was freaked, she still was long after we got married even. But she still loved me, loved all of us, and worked everyday to overcome her fears. You mother still has that same spirit, it's just going to take her awhile."

The doorbell rang, and a look of shock and hope passed over her face, and I was sure over mine as well. Both of us moved quickly towards the door. I opened it, hoping to see my wife.

It was the blonde, Sara, Felicity's friend from school. Before I could even say anything she raised her hand and slapped me across the face. She had a good arm, and I took a step back rubbing my cheek as I heard Mia shriek.

"What did you do to her?!" Sara yelled, stepping over the threshold of the house, pushing me back. I threw an arm out to stop Mia from getting at her. "What did you do to Felicity!?" She raised her arm as if to slap me again but I caught her wrist. She looked nervous, wrenching her arm back. She was determined though.

"Whats wrong with her?" I asked, worried that maybe what had happened had really been to much.

"It's like she's in shock or something," Through all the bravado, Sara's voice cracked, she was really worried about her, and it was making me nervous.

Mia stood there, white as a sheet, unable to speak.

Sara spoke again "She has been wearing the same clothes for the past two days. She doesn't eat unless we make her. She just keeps staring at the wall and every so often she cries. Ava has sat with her all this time but it's like she's not even there."

At the end of her speech Sara looked distraught. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "He didn't do anything to her." Mia said, her voice uncharacteristically cold. Her face was stoic as she looked at the girl. But I knew it was only a mask.

"Really?" Sara asked, not afraid of us at all. "It's always been us, Ava, Felicity and I taking care of each other. Then you _people _show up and do something and now I don't know what wrong with her and I can't fix it! Don't try to tell me it's not you either because i've seen the look on her face when I mention your names!"

Hurt flashed across Mia's face and I wanted to reach out to comfort her, but Sara kept on talking to us. "Look, she's not telling me anything so I cant turn you in, but if I even see you talk to her at school I'm going straight to the police!" She turned and stormed out the door, and was almost to her car before she turned back to us.

"Please," She said her voice growing soft. I couldn't be mad at her, even though she did hit me. "Just let her get better." She slammed the door to her car shut and speed off. She and Ava obviously loved Felicity and if I couldn't be there for her, I was glad they were.

I turned to see Mia, her lip quivering. I pulled my daughter into my arms and held her as she cried. "It's going to be ok," I told her, trying to convince myself as well. "It's just a lot of information, a bunch of stuff to remember, it would leave anybody stunned. It doesn't mean she doesn't want us. We just have to give it time Mia," I could feel her nod against my shirt.

If only I could convince myself.

* * *

**Guys, I have always loved Sara Lance, and I love any chance to get to write for her! I wanted this chapter to show that Felicity has so many people on her side, even if they don't understand her thoughts or actions!**

**I know these past two chapters haven't been super plot heavy, but I wanted to establish how everyone was feeling before we move forward!**

**Next! Will everyone be able to mask their true feeling as they head back to school?**

**Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!**


	12. Deteriorations

**Hehehehehe! I love cliffhangers, do you!?**

* * *

_Felicity_

_I awoke very suddenly, my heart pounding painfully in my chest. I had been awoken by a nightmare of Oliver. The Oliver that existed in my darkest nightmares. The one who prowled in a dark hood, killing and hurting innocent people._

_I watched horrified, as he turned on me, the blood on his shirt a deep crimson as he lunged._

_It was then my eyes snapped open, and I was grateful for the darkness of our bedroom._

_It's only a dream, I told myself over and over, my heart returning to normal. The room had grown very dark and very cold in the night, and I clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering. After the incident with the shirt, Oliver had left the room to give me my space._

_I wished down in my heart that I'd had the strength to handle what I had seen better. I knew that he did not hold it against me, as I had drifted off, I had felt him kiss my forehead as he climbed into to bed and prepared to go to sleep._

_I loved Oliver, with all of my heart, and knew that our baby would be a vampire just like him. That could not change how much I would love them both. I would force myself to be understanding, for our baby would be just like him._

_That was why he wanted to wait. He said we would have all the time in the world. Later, later in life, then we could begin to think of children._

_He had as many worries as I did. He had never been around children and fretted constantly that he would be a terrible father._

_I could feel his warm arm wrapped across my waist, but instead of moving closer to him as normal I slowly moved his arm from on top of me and slipped out of bed. I pulled a dressing gown tightly around myself and found the small tea candle and lit it._

_The room was thrown into shadows as the small flame flickered on. I moved back towards the bed and looked down at my husband. Even in the low lighting his hair gleamed, and the shadows of his back stood out clearly, he was so very handsome._

_I looked around the room, noticing the shirt had gone from the floor, he must have moved it after I had fallen asleep. I placed my hand on my stomach, on what I hoped was my baby. I sat in the small chair next to the desk, looking down at my stomach._

_I wanted this baby, I wanted a child so badly I ached with the possibility that it was all in my head._

_I needed to tell him, I had planned on it tonight, but after what I had seen it had been driven from my mind. I sat there with my hand on my stomach, taking deep breaths, trying to work out what I was going to say to my husband._

_Would he be angry at me after everything that had happened tonight?_

_Horror stories had always passed around the village of girls who had been thrown on the street for conceiving a child to early, or too late in a marriage. Thrown out if it was not a boy as desired, or a girl like needed. These women were left scorned and ridiculed, and ended up working in filthy places under red lights just to feed their child._

_While I knew Oliver was not like those horrible men, I was still irrationally afraid of becoming like those women. I wondered if this onslaught of emotions was due to the baby._

_Without giving myself any time to doubt my decision. I moved to the lamp and lit it, the room cast into brighter light. I lit the lamp on the desk, the room not alight with a rosy glow. Keeping my hand on my stomach I called out. "Oliver," I whispered as loudly as I dared._

_He stirred and sat up, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his hair, making it look even more messy. "Felicity what time is it?" He asked looking at my with bleary eyes. He was so handsome._

_I just stood there, my one hand pressed to my stomach, the other holding my gown tight around me. When he saw me standing there he woke fully, looking concerned. "Felicity what's wrong?" he asked, throwing the blankets back and climbing out of bed. I held my hand up and he froze._

_He just stood there, no shirt, just his trousers on. I looked at how beautiful he was, and steeled myself for the possibility that everything between us could horribly change after tonight._

_"Oliver I need to say something and I need you to listen to me." He looked so worried, and frightened. Like he had done something wrong, it pained me to make him feel that way but if I didn't say it now then I would lose my nerve._

_"Felicity," He said, trying to move toward me._

_"Stop!" I said, my voice breaking and echoing around the large room. He just stared, hurt and wide-eyed as I took several deep breaths. "Just let me get through this."_

_I wrapped both arms around my stomach and closed my eyes as I spoke. "I think I'm going to have a baby," It was silent so I kept on speaking. "I understand that we had talked of having children much later in life. I know your scared of having a child, and I know this is not what we had expected. But it's my baby and I will do whatever I can to..."_

_I was in his arms them, his hands cupping my face, kissing me so deeply. When he pulled away his face was so bright and alive that it made me heart skip and I fell in love with him all over again. "We're going to have a baby?" He asked, his smile stretching his face._

_"I believe so, I am almost positive." I replied in wonder. He was kissing me again, over and over until I felt light-headed. He looked down at my stomach, reaching his hand out and placing it there gently. I laughed with him, joy unbound filling my heart._

_"Your not upset?" I asked, leaning into him, resting my head on his chest. He pulled away from me, taking my hand and leading me over to the bed, he sat holding my hands, still looking at me with such light in his eyes. All my fears, doubts, and worries burned up from the light of his face._

_"I love you," He said, making my heart skip again. "I love you so much Felicity, and the thought of a baby, of our baby." He stopped, I realized with a shock how emotional he was. He reached out and placed his hand back on my stomach._

_He looked at me with amazement. "We might be having a baby." He smiled so widely it was infectious, I laughed with him. He pulled me to him with another joyful kiss, lifting me and spinning me around._

* * *

Oliver

The very next day I called it quits to our mope fest. I made Mia get dressed and I drove us to school. We both still looked terrible, I had grabbed the first things I could find that were clean. Mia was wearing an old coat and a dress I'm pretty sure she had bought in 1972. But the two of us really didn't care.

Laurel and Tommy had left that morning to travel around for a bit. They needed time together, we all just needed something different. We walked in the door of the school, with our heads down.

"We can do this Mia, we just have to get through the day," I told my daughter. She nodded her gaze far off, she saw something though and her face went pale.

I turned, guessing what is was before I saw her. Felicity was on the other end of the cafeteria, flanked on either side by Sara and Ava. She looked beautiful, clothes matching and hair perfectly curled.

When I saw her face though I realized that her friends must have picked out her clothes and done her hair. She looked exhausted, the circles under her eyes noticeable even from this far away. Someone said something and she smiled but it looked pained. She was as bad off as we were.

Mia nodded, her face falling, "I'm just going to wait in class," She started to walk off, then turned back to me, holding her jacket tight around her.

"Have faith, right Dad?" I smiled at her, and how much she reminded me of Felicity I hugged her quickly and watched her walk off. I rubbed my chin, looking after my daughter. I wanted to help her but I couldn't here, this was not a place I could be her father.

My class was down the english hall, it was a class that I normally had with Laurel but today it was going to have to just be me. I leaned against the wall closing my eyes. I was exhausted, maybe it would have been better if I had just let us stay home.

"Hey!" A loud voice broke through my silence. My eyes snapped open recognizing the voice from the first syllable. I saw Felicity storming towards me. She had apparently ditched her friends, because it was just the two of us in the hall. I froze as she stopped abrupt in front of me.

She looked even worse up close, positively broken and exhausted, her eyes barely seemed like they could focus on me.

"I need to speak to you!" She whispered, shaking slightly.

I just stared at her, she still looked beautiful.

They had dressed her in pink and black, with makeup that tried hard to make her look awake. I wanted to pull her towards me, to hold her until all the pain was gone.

'"Felicity," I said, just looking at her. She pressed her lips together, but she was shaking so bad now. I wanted to hold her, but did not want to set her off. She had come to me.

"What do you need?" I asked. Her face fell and she bit her lip. She was trying so hard to hold herself together.

Before I could speak again she had reached forward and grabbed the arm of my jacket. She pulled me a little way down the hall to a door that she threw open. The awful smell of detergent and old moldy mops and cleaning supplies hit me. She stormed in pulling me behind her. She closed the door, flipping on the light switch.

"You took me away from my daughter again!" She said, like it was breaking her to do so. She shoved me, but she didn't have enough strength to even move me.

"Felicity please," I said, but before I could finish she had moved forward and was kissing me.

* * *

**OHHH BOY! Want a fun spoiler?! The next chapter is called Kisses! I am so excited for Oliver and Felicity, I love getting to explore their relationship!**

**ALSO, I can’t believe the final season of Arrow is already airing. I love the show and am already emotional about saying goodbye to the characters.**

**The next two chapters are super special, I can’t wait for you to read them!**

**REVIEW! Let me know what you thought!**


	13. Kisses

I **am so sorry for the late posting, I had two grad school papers due the same day. Better late than never, because I just love this chapter so much!**

* * *

Felicity

I did not want to be at school.

After three days my head felt so full of memories, even when I slept I saw pictures and scenes from this other life that was mine, and yet was not.

Sara and Ava had gotten so worried about me that I had gotten up, taken a shower, and was here at school just for them. All I had to do was keep up face. They had dressed me even, all I had to do was sit there while they did my hair and makeup.

I wanted to see Mia, my baby girl, again. My heart hurt, pounding. I couldn't even think straight anymore. I had tried to have a glass of juice with breakfast but my hand had shaken so bad that I had spilled it all over my first outfit.

I had burst into tears, frightening my friends. But Ava had helped me clean up and Sara picked out new clothes.

At school other friends of mine had known something was up, but they just acted as if everything was normal. As if they would dare say anything for risk of Sara killing them.

I forced a laugh at a joke that Barry said, even though I hadn't heard a single word of it.

Then I saw them, Oliver and Mia. They were both here, my heart started beating painfully fast, I saw him hug her and she walked off. I needed to follow then, find out is she was ok.

My mouth was dry as I asked my friends to excuse me, because I needed a drink of water. I ignored all the worried looks that they were giving me and followed Mia. But she had disappeared.

I stopped, looking around for my daughter. I didn't see her, I just saw him.

It was Oliver, and if I believed that Mia was my daughter then he was my husband. A huge rush of emotions welled up in me and I was storming off after him.

I followed him, down towards the English hall. After all I had seen I needed to talk to him again.

I tripped over my own feet, exhaustion and distraction from all the noise and pictures that were trying to beat their way into my memory.

When he had kissed me, everything had gone silent.

I clung to that and was repulsed by it at the same time. I didn't know him, or I didn't think I had. But I did know him, I saw a million pictures and memories of him kissing me, holding me, telling me he loved me.

I had not slept more than three hours a night since I had figured all of this out. I had to follow this one chance. I could not tell which emotion was pounding against my brain, but I think it was anger.

I saw him, leaning against the wall and called out to him. I had been so angry at him, so scared and horrified at what he was, every part of me agreed with that. I was standing in front of him, trying not to fall over, feeling sick down to my bones.

"I need to speak to you," I heard myself say.

I wanted to cry, biting my lip trying to hang onto the words he was saying, but I couldn't. I just wanted everything to stop, please make it stop. I grabbed him and pulled him to the janitor closet.

This was not me, I was not the kind of girl who hauled guys off to closets. Even if he thought he was my husband.

Well I guess those morals died out the same time I did.

I almost laughed hysterically but instead I screamed at him for taking my daughter away. I pushed him, alarmed at how weak I was. I looked into his eyes, they were so pretty. I just wanted some peace.

I heard him say my name, I could hear it in his voice. He was worried about me, he might even still love me.

It was so wrong, but everything else was too much. Before I even knew what I was doing. I pulled him close and was kissing him.

Silence.

My head was finally quiet, for the first time in three days. I could hear my own thoughts and it was such a sense of release that I relaxed. His arms reached up and wrapped around me.

He was kissing me as if I was water and he was dying of thirst. I wound my hands up in his hair, part of me hating myself. The other part wanting to kiss him until all the bad things of the past few days were gone.

I didn't know this person I was making out in a closet with, not really…

I was a horrible person, a horrible wretched person. If my daughter could see me now, if she knew what I was really doing...

His hand came up, cupping my face and I felt him freeze. He pulled away from me and in the low lighting I cold see he looked worried. "Felicity?" He asked, still inches from my face.

I was crying, big fat tears slid down my face, taking all the makeup with it and I knew I looked like a mess. But I wasn't sad, these were tears of relief. "When I'm with you," I got out though deep breaths. "Everything feels better."

They were the right words to describe how I felt, but it was the worst thing I could have possibly said. His face light up and he looked so full of joy it hurt to see him. He was kissing me again, and I kissed him back. Because he loved me, and he kept the swirling demon memories out.

He had pulled me so close, one arm wrapped firmly around my waist. His other hand wiping my tears away. Kissing me so deeply I thought I may shatter.

I was getting light-headed but he still held me so close as I continued to break down and pull myself together.

Guilt radiated from my head to my toes, I could see how much he loved me. It was evident in everything he did, and all the pictures I had seen backed it up. So I let him continue to hold me tight, even being this near to him helped keep everything away. I could feel tears running down my face, my lips were bruised.

When the guilt rose high in my throat I murmured against him. "Stop," I mumbled into his lips, but both his hands wound in my hair. "Stop!" I pulled away and pushed him, actually moving him away from me. "I need you to stop." He looked horrified.

"Are you ok?" He asked, placing his hand on my arm. "Did I hurt you?" He went pale and looked sick with himself at the very idea. I pulled away from him, my head was now clear enough to where full complete thoughts were spilling out of my mouth. I had to say them now while I could.

"Ever since I saw you, it's all been coming back. For the past four days, memories, pictures, sounds, smells have been pressing themselves into my brain. I haven't been able to sleep, I am so tired, so confused, I feel sick, and the only time it has stopped is when I'm kissing you. I am trying to figure all of this out and I want to see my daughter!"

He looked heartbroken, he moved forward as if to hold me but I stopped him. "I just kissed you to get it all to stop."

I could have just as easily have slapped him. At this point I didn't even feel bad, I finally had some sort of my mind back. "All the memories keep coming and the ones I actually want to see there aren't enough of!" I looked into his eyes. "I only got to be her mother for three days. I saw them rip her from my arms... I just want to see her."

He went pale, then an awful shade of green. "You remember how you died..." It wasn't a question. His voice broke and he gripped my shoulders, I could feel him shaking. His head lowered, I wanted to pull away from him. But I just continued to speak.

"Yes, every part of it, they held me down and tried to make me tell them where you were. They choked me, they hit me, kicked me, and cut me." I held up my hand, showing him the scar. "The ring I wore?"

He took my hand, running his fingers over the white scar. My stomach turned over but I ignored it. "It's... It was your wedding ring." Everything went cold when I heard the way his voice changed. "Mia... She has it, I gave it to her when she turned eighteen." I tried to pull my hand away but he pulled me close with a burst of strength. He kissed me, I started to pull away but I felt tears on my face, and for once I was not the one crying.

I stood there, letting him kiss me. He was shaking and I pulled away and wrapped my arms around him. He clutched me to him, whispering half formed apologies into my hair.

The voices in my head were finally silenced, I wondered if this was how I had to do it. If simply being with him would help.

But I needed to move away, get away from all of this. "I'm not her," I said, the arms around me froze, and he exhaled into my hair, making me shiver. "I remember everything but at the same time it's not me. You have to know even though I accept all this happened… I'm not the girl from my memories. I don't know what we are going to do."

I was killing him, I was actually killing him. I could see every bit of it on his face. But I kept speaking, not wanting to stop now. "All I want to do is see my daughter and get to know her."

He looked desperate to answer me, desperate to change my mind. "Yes, You can. Felicity I will never keep her from you, she needs to get to know you and you need to get to know her." I believe him. "When ever you want to see her or talk to her, you're her mother, just do it."

"I need space from you," I suddenly felt exhausted, everything from the past three days hitting me at once. "I know there was something between us, but I just need to sort this out, get to know my daughter."

Just looking at me, I felt exposed under his gaze. I tried not to let my face grow red. That feeling of being trapped was clawing its way up my throat and I pushed past him out of the room. I heard a few people gasp, wolf whistle and call after me but I just kept walking.

I didn't realize I was crying until I felt drops hit my shirt.

* * *

**WELL?!** **Ha! I am so excited! We are officially half way through this story! How crazy is that!?**

**PLEASE, consider commenting, I’d love to get to 50 before the next chapter!**

**Up next, we are doing something different! While Mia has been so important to both of out main characters, it is high time for us to see this story from her point of view!**


	14. Mothers

**Welcome back! I really hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

I have lived for a hundred and ninety years, and yet I can still say that I have only had to live through a few perfectly terrible days...

The first was November 22nd, 1963. We had all travelled down to Dallas, I had spent weeks convincing my Dad to go.

The day had been warm, I had worn a big sun hat that I had seen Jackie Kennedy wear in a magazine the week before. I had caught glimpse of the two of them smiling and waving from the limo.

I remember hanging on to my Aunt's arm, both of us cheering and waving little American flags when the gunshots went off.

Then everyone was screaming. My Dad shoved his way through the stampeding crowd grabbing my arm, and he and Laurel pulled me through the screaming people.

I tried to push them off, I had screamed and cried and had my hands clamped over my ears to block out the cries coming from all the people.

Huge men in suits shoved there ways past us, trying to get to the car. I turned and saw for one brief second Mrs. Kennedy screaming as she clutched at her husband, before my Dad dragged me away.

The second day had been much more recent. September 11, 2001. We hadn't even been in the country at the time. Tommy and my Dad had been sitting around a bar in Glasgow when all the TV's had turned to news reports full of smoke and screaming.

When I had met up with them later, they sat grey skinned, and white knuckled staring up with horror as more and more reports came it. They had both been soldiers in the first World War, had fought for the very country that we were seeing fall apart...

We didn't leave the bar for another six hours. The people who ran it just kept it open, locals came in to see what the fuss was. They gave us a solemn berth, letting us grieve for our nation that was under attack.

Laurel had been gripping my hand tightly for an hour when I pulled away from her and went and sat next to my Dad.

Just like the day John Kennedy had been murdered, we were in shock. We were horrified at the true evil that existed in our world. I sat next to him, not wanting to say anything.

Not taking his eyes off the screen he put his arm around me. I leaned against his shoulder, watching all the brave men who risked lives to help. I looked up at his face, not knowing what to do.

After awhile Tommy stood up, holding on to Laurel. He walked in a daze to the door, and looked back at us. My Dad had his eyes closed and his jaws clenched. I shook my head at them, and they left, giving me exhausted looks of pity.

I knew what my dad was going through, what events like this brought up in his mind...

It was all because of that third day. The third and by far the most terrible day in my life. I didn't remember it, how could I? I had only been a few days old at the time.

.

I had been about seven or eight when I realized that most families didn't have an Uncle Tommy or an Aunt Laurel like mine did. Yet, all the little girls and boys my age had a Daddy...

I knew even then that I was different, at such a young age I had been carefully instructed that I was not to tell anyone that I was a Vampire. But this seemed to go beyond my diet and the fact I was stronger than anyone else.

Other children in my 1930's one-room wooden school-house were dropped off by smiling grown ladies who smiled, ruffled their hair and kissed them goodbye. I never saw how that was different from my Dad, Tommy, or Laurel doing the exact same thing.

Then the children started to pick on me, make fun of me for my lack of a lunch, for my clothes... That were almost identical to all of theirs.

But one day I came home from school, absolutely upset. My Dad was still at work at his carpenter job. So when Laurel and I got home, I went straight to the living room, climbed into my Uncle's lap and asked him.

"Uncle Tommy, why don't I have a Mommy?" The look on his face had terrified me. Laurel had dropped the plate with my snack on it, glass shattered around her feet.

I had been so scared by their reactions that I had burst into tears. Tommy had scooped me up, holding me close while I cried. He shushed me and comforted me, but I was now aware of the fact that something in my life was different.

As soon as my Dad walked in the door that evening he knew something was wrong. I was still curled up in Tommy's lap, sniffling. The moment I saw him I held up my arms and he pulled me into them.

I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck as I heard the whisperings behind me as my Aunt and Uncle filled him in. "Oliver, it time to tell her." Laurel said, her voice low.

I felt my Daddy stiffen, and I just clung to him tighter. I could feel him shaking, I had seen him cry before, sometimes when I had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water I would hear him.

But this was different, I was so scared at this point. I started crying with him, and for a long time he just held me.

I remembered being this little seven-year old girl, sitting in my Dad's lap, feeling him take several deep breaths. "Mia," He started, but had to stop and close his eyes. I grabbed ahold of one of the buttons on his shirt, my little fist clenched tight.

"Mia, I know what you asked Uncle Tommy today. Did something happen at school?" I nodded my head vigorously.

"Daddy, Isobel said that to be a real family you have to have a Mommy. She said that you don't get to have a Uncle Tommy or Aunt Laurel," I gave a big sniff and looked over at the two of them sitting on the couch, their hand clasped tightly. "You have to tell her it's not true. We do have a family."

He shuddered again, lowering his head and kissing my hair. "Mia, you are so right my sweet girl, we do have a real family. But, Mia sweetie, you do have a Mother." I sat up straight in his lap, looking up into his face.

My face was scrunched as I asked "Why isn't she here with us?" I had discover that my perfect family was indeed not, and now there was a piece missing.

His face collapsed again and I did not like seeing my hero of a dad like this. "Because, when you were very little, some bad men took you and your mother away from me. But because she loved you so very much, she made sure that those men did not hurt you. She made sure that you were safe, she made sure you got back to me." My lip trembled as I stared transfixed at my Dad's face. "But those bad men hurt her, and she died."

I startled wailing again, I knew what that meant. One of my classmates had a brother die from influenza the year before. This meant I would never see my Mommy ever. Laurel was hiding her face in Tommy's shoulder.

"But Mia she loved you so much." My dad hugged me close. "She still loves you, she watches over you every day." He hugged me and held me close or for hours after that until I had calmed down.

.

But how could a seven-year old truly understand that her mother had been murdered? As I got older and began to witness and recognize the evil that existed in the world helping me to understand the hatred that had driven those men. Those two days, the assassination of a President, and the attempted assassination of a country, helped me understand what must have been in their hearts.

They also helped me understand her. How strong she must have been to stand against them.

That third terrible day, I couldn't even begin to fathom what she must have been through. That she had loved me so much...

From the day that my dad told me, I was always on alert for the angel that watched over me. _Felicity, _it was the most beautiful name I had ever heard. Anything to feel like she was still there watching me.

And I continued growing up. I was sometimes filled with so much guilt over the fact that I had a good childhood. I didn't even have memories of Felicity, of my mother. But I was loved, I was loved by the most amazing Dad in the world. I had an Aunt and Uncle that would do anything to make me laugh, encourage me. They did everything for me.

Somedays I was in complete wonder over how a 'normal' family was supposed to function, and other days I woke up screaming for my mother.

I wanted _something _that could tangibly connect me to her. My Dad had told me time and time again she would have loved to see me able to learn and grow, that she had been the smartest person he had ever known. I treasured those complements above all others, and I worked hard to keep myself as educated as possible.

But I didn't even have a memory, or a picture. My nightmares were different every single time, the only constant being the overwhelming scene that I was so afraid, and so lost. I was always hiding, and there was always a light that stood in front of me, that got dimmer and dimmer until it just when out.

It was then I woke up, crying. My Dad would be running in from the other room and no matter how old I got, would just pull me into his arms.

But time did pass, and I found my nightmares growing father and farther apart as I got older. The sadness and loss lessened, and I always kept an eye on my Dad. There was never anyone else for him, ever. He had loved her, and he would continue to love her.

We traveled around, never staying for more than seven years in one place. I continued to follow my passions, trying to hold onto the hope I was growing into the kind of person my Mom would have loved.

.

And now here we were, in the next new town, 2019. I could tell from the very first day that I was going to be another tough school. No matter where I was, no matter what I did, there were always those few who made it their mission to make my life a miserable affair.

I often wondered if I was cursed. If I had escaped the fate meant for me at that barn, so the torment and pain followed me around, trying to give me the end that they had planned.

Also, it had occurred to me that this may be the work of Laurel's family. I had heard the stories of the cloud people all throughout my life. The witches had once had Laurel, perhaps not cursing her because she was one of them. So they ignored her and turned to my family, cursing us enough to last throughout time. I would never speak these theories to her, I knew she felt so guilty and sad all the time that she had not been able to help my mother.

I would not hurt my Aunt this way, not the woman who had helped me with everything my Dad could not growing up. So I kept my theories to myself, and dealt with all the idiots that I came across.

Sure enough, my first day, not even twenty minutes after being at school. A tall jerk started picking on me, I just retreated into myself and hoped he would get bored.

What I did not expect was a girl telling him off as she pushed him away from me. I smiled with a pang as she introduced herself as Felicity. I couldn't avoid girls with the name, I had knows several over my life. This one though fit all the descriptions I had been told growing up, and it made me sad.

I smiled and was friendly with her all day, but tried to keep myself distanced. I refused to let myself turn people into replacements for the mother I had lost. There was nothing to replace in my family, I loved them and they loved me.

.

I was in shock when they told me the truth. The girl I had kept an arm's length away was her. What was I supposed to do with this information?

It was her, it was my mother. I replayed all those moment over and over in my head. Now treasuring every second I had spent with her.

Growing up, even though I was sad, I had always though it possible to survive without her. But the hole in my heart had just been covered and forgotten was wrenched open and hurt like it was fresh.

I wanted to murder those men myself. How could they?! Why would they do such a thing to her?

She was here, the woman who had saved my life, the woman who had given me life. I now wanted to spend every second with her. I was transfixed, and suddenly upset. All of a sudden I was worried that she might not approve of the life that I had lived.

She didn't remember me, she knew even less about her life than I did. I saw how it affected my whole family and it scared me. She remembered none of her old life, she remembered none of her old family. One hundred and ninety years later...

My Dad, he was verging nonsensical. In utter shock that the woman he loved was back. There were still to many obstacles in the way for him, and it was tearing him apart. Laurel, was trying to hold back every other emotion she could not express with her words. And Tommy, he grew silent, another frightening rarity.

My mother meant so much to all of them. The fact that Felicity was there at the school, it changed all of our lives with in a single moment.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore except getting her back. Not school, not anything. But I had to go back, we could not afford at this moment stand out.

I paid no attention to my surroundings, ending up getting myself into trouble. I stood there as the veritable child yelled at me. If only he knew how insignificant he was...

But then the light stepped between me and danger, as it had always done in my nightmares. I shook, watching Felicity defend me. My hear constricted and I had to get out of there.

I only made if half way down the hall before I collapsed. It was exactly like I had dreamed for years and years. Only now it was real. I felt arms around me and knew without a doubt that it was her. I seemed to fit perfectly in her arms. I was having some sort of panic attack. I couldn't calm down, the injustice of her murder was driving me insane.

I just let her hold me for a long time. I wanted to look at her, to memorize every detail.

I wanted to hear her talk to me, acknowledge who I was.

Then Tommy was there and I ran off, terrified. She didn't know who I was yet. I could ruin this whole thing for all of us. But I was still in awe. I had just been hugged for the first time by my mother.

.

I had head the screaming grow closer to me. I had woken up from a dead sleep because of the noise that had crept into my dreams. I recognized all the voices, all of them. She knew...

Sprinting out of the room, I froze at the sight in front of me. Instinctually I clung to my Dad, as my mother sat on the floor with her face buried in her hands. Without him even realizing it, my Dad was shushing me, hiding me from her.

I hid against him, now knowing the screaming had been true, something had gone very wrong and now she was upset. She didn't want this remembered life, and that meant she didn't want me!

I wanted out, I wanted out of there now. I let myself be pulled away until one word cut through to me.

"Mia,"

I stopped, lifting my eyes to see her. I saw her red, tear stained face looking at me. Her eyes wide and clear. I took a step forward and saw countless emotions cross her face.

My family around me was all tense, trying to stop me to hold me back, as if Felicity would do something crazy.

I stood there as she looked at my face, both of us taking in every detail. Then she whispered to me an apology,_ for what?_ She had nothing to say sorry for.

In the next second I was in her arms, crying for all the words I could not say yet. She held me close, her arms shaking as she hugged me. One arm running a hand through my hair. We were both sitting, and I never wanted to let her go. There was something about us that fit, like a missing piece had been restored.

Things were still in shambles, they were nowhere close to being fixed. Still, the rightness of being comforted by her, I wanted her to hold me for forever.

I was back where I belonged, I was with my mother.

* * *

**This is definitely my favorite (and longest) chapter that I have written so far, I love Mia and I’m glad you finally get to see some of the thoughts that have been going on in her brain!**

**The next chapter is a companion to this one, titled “Daughters”**

**What did you think of this different chapter?! Let me know!!!!!**


	15. Daughters

**I love getting to hear your comments, so many of you are so sympathetic to the plights of our characters! ** **That is so encouraging to hear as a writer!**

**Thank you to all those who contribute to this story kudos, comment, or even just reading makes it worth it to me!**

* * *

_Oliver_

_I helped Felicity stand up, keeping one hand at the small of her back. She smiled at me then turned and helped me great Tommy and Laurel. "Look at you!" Laurel cried, running to her friend, taking both of her hands in her own._

_We had missed the two of them, they had left. Had traveled around the country for a month, leaving Felicity and I with some nice time to ourselves getting ready for the baby._

_Felicity blushed and looked down, but she still was smiling and standing tall. She was now about five months along, and it made me proud every time I looked at her._

_"Hey kid!" Tommy wrapped my wife in his arms and with his free hand clapped me on the shoulder. "Look at you, you look even more beautiful since the last time we saw you!"_

_"Thank you!" Felicity said, her grin threatening to overtake her face. She kept her hand over her stomach._

_Even though Felicity was smiling now she spent most of the days either anxious or nervous about if we were doing things right. It wasn't just her though, I wanted to do this right. Both of us had unspoken worries about what might happen when the baby came. I had never spent time with a Vampire baby, much less a human baby before._

_Sometimes I wondered if I would be a good father. Felicity would be the perfect mother, she already loved our baby more than life itself. I just wanted to make her and our child proud._

_"I'll go get us some drinks." She said, and I moved to help her before my brother and sister-in-law shouted at us._

_"Stay where you are," Laurel said, looking scandalized at the very idea._

_"That's right, you are carrying my future niece or nephew." Tommy chimed in, ruffling Felicity's hair, to her exasperated smile._

_"We will get the drinks, this is our house as well." Laurel said with a teasing smile, and linked arms with her husband as the two left the room._

_"They are to kind to us," Felicity said, letting a deep breath out. I kissed her on her forehead. She smiled at me, but then her face changed. She looked so shocked, and I grabbed both of her shoulders._

_"Felicity what is it?" I asked, but she wasn't listening to me. I sat her back down on the couch, kneeling in front of her trying to catch her attention. "Felicity what's wrong?"_

_She looked up, catching my eyes, and I was utterly floored to see they joy that was slowly spreading across her face. "I just felt the baby kick," She said, beaming wider than I had ever seen._

_I sat there in shock for a good second, then felt the huge smile cross my face. Felicity was gripping my hands, laughing with glee. "You felt a kick!" I asked, my voice low._

_She laughed, and I had never seen her so gleeful. "I felt a kick!" She screeched. She took my hand and pressed it to her stomach. I couldn't feel anything, not yet. But I knew by the look on her face that she hadn't made it up._

_I laughed, feeling so happy, it filling me with energy. I swept Felicity off the couch spinning her around. With a light that was making her positively shine, she pulled me down to kiss me. "I love you so much!" She said, and I swear, in that moment she had never looked more beautiful._

* * *

Felicity

I wiped my eyes furiously, pushing the door to the bathroom open and running inside. This particular bathroom was only used by kids that wanted to hook up or smoke during the day.

Thank goodness it was empty now, although after what everyone had just seen it seemed fitting for me. What had I done?

I had kissed Oliver. I had destroyed Oliver. I had found a way for all the memories to stop and I broke that connection! Also, I was so tired...

Blindly I stumbled over to the sink, turning the water on full blast. The sound would keep anybody passing by from coming in. I glanced up at my reflection and winced.

The first thing I noticed was my lips. They were swollen as I suspected. When I closed my eyes I could see Oliver and I from earlier, and I flushed down to my toes.

What on earth had I done?

All the work that Sara and Ava had done to make me look beautiful had washed away. My eyes were black smudges and black tear tracks stained my face. I looked like I felt, like what everyone who saw me running from that janitor's closet must think I was.

My hands were shaking as I ran a scratchy brown paper towel under the stream of water. Facing my reflection once more I began to try to wipe off my face.

Two paper towels later my face was somewhat clear. Removing all the makeup just showed me my true form. My eyes had huge bags under them, my lack of sleep giving me sallow skin. That plus my swollen lips and eyes transformed me into someone I no longer recognized.

I gripped on to the edges on the sink, my head hung low. There wasn't a word for the sound coming out of my mouth. I was not crying, I couldn't cry any more. I felt on the edge of having a panic attack, I couldn't seem to catch my breath and my chest ached.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing deeply. What was I going to say, next time I saw him? I had to see him again, if I wanted to be around Mia I had to.

He would hate me, but he would deal with it because he loved me. I had used him, and I knew I would do it again if the pressure ever became too much. He loved me, he had kissed me with a desperation that only came from love.

I heard the door open. What was someone doing in here, everyone at school knew the unspoken rule about this bathroom. I threw my self away from the sink, backing away toward a stall, hoping that no one would see me.

It was Mia.

I froze for a complete second, our eyes meeting. The look on her face so echoed her father's that it sent a pang through my heart.

But after that second both of us moved forward. I wrapped my daughter in my arms, releasing a deep breath at the instant peace that it brought me. I really thought I could hold her forever. I heard her mumbling, and I pulled back.

Brushing back her hair from her face I looked her up and down, checking to make sure she was ok. She looked at me nervously, as if biting words back. "Mom," She whispered, like the word itself was precious.

I wondered if it was the first time that she had ever said the word aloud. I pulled her in for another hug, heart swelling when I felt her hugging me back as if she never wanted to let go.

I didn't want to pull away, this was a good moment. This was untroubled by drama, by the insanity that had clouded my brain for the past few days. This was just me and Mia.

Finally Mia pulled and smiled up at me. "Hello," She whispered, and both of us broke into slight laughter.

"Hi," I said, running a hand through her hair. "Hi Mia," This was the best I felt in days. My head was clear and I was seeing my daughter again. There were a million things I wanted to talk to her about, and I knew I could spend hours with her and only know a fraction of what I wanted.

"Are you ok?" She asked, looking up through her lashes at me worriedly. For a half second I looked back at her in confusion before I remembered... Oh that's right my face.

I couldn't hide it even if I wanted to. My lips and my eyes told the whole story. Before I could speak to try to reassure her, she spoke...

"Dad told me what happened." She turned pink around the ears and I'm sure my whole face was flushed scarlet. Oh my goodness, he had told her... "He didn't tell me everything," She hurriedly said, biting her lip in a nervous habit. That was a habit that I had. "He told me you were upset, and that you had run off."

Her eyes flicked over my face, and it didn't help with the blushing on both of our parts. I ran my hands through my hair. I turned, my hand still pulling my hair back. I was so exhausted. I crossed over to the wall and slid down it, my back resting against it.

"You must think I'm terrible," I said, looking up at her. She crossed over right next to me and sat down. My arm went around her and she leaned against me.

As little as we understood each other at this point I still wanted to be around her, to hold her and tell her everything was going to be ok.

"I don't really get it, you act like your happy to see me." She said, with the start of a long breath. "So you obviously remember somethings. But it's like you don't even want to be around my Dad, and he's always spoken about you like you loved each other more than anything in the world. I remember when I was really little finding him crying because he missed you so much. So how can you want to be my mother, but not accept my dad? He was your husband..." She trailed off, she hadn't looked at me through her entire little speech, speaking very fast to her shoes.

My heart broke to see her so conflicted, and her words hit straight to my heart. I considered what I was going to say very carefully.

"Mia you have to understand what this has been like for me, I'm not going to trivialize what your father has been through. But for that whole while that I didn't know who all of you were, I thought I was going mad. I had almost eighteen years worth of memories pressing into my brain, and not just memories, feeling and emotions." I took a deep breath, the time was crying was over. I needed to be the strong one for her.

"The thing that hit me the hardest was how much I missed you, how much I had loved you. The injustice of having your child torn away from you is the worst..." I broke off with a shudder. I felt her grip my hand and lean her head against my shoulder.

"There was never any doubt that it was all true Mia," I honestly spoke. "Things that strong and that raw have to be real. So I am going to do my best to be your mother, as well as I can. Even though it won't make sense sometimes. But Oliver," I trailed off, thinking of the right way to phrase it.

"He still loves you," She said strongly, the kind a little girl can only have for her Dad. I closed my eyes, seeing the way he had kissed me not hours before, yes. I knew he still loved me.

"I know, and that's part of it. Somehow accepting that you are my daughter, my flesh and blood is easier than the fact someone might love me that much. That after everything that has happened between us, He lost me and mourned me for almost two hundred years... I have a whole new set of memories where I grew up not loving your Dad... The two polar opposite parts of my life are colliding, and I don't know how much this Felicity is like the one he fell in love with."

"So I just have to have faith?" She said it like a chant, something repeated over and over. I gave her a small grin, the set in her jaw echoed Oliver's. There was so much of his determination and heart in her. He had raised her so well, they all had. "I must have faith that this is going to work out."

I loved her fire, and understood her so much, she just wanted her family back together. I got it, I wanted her life not to be broken, no matter what that looked like. No matter what kind of agreement Oliver and I had to make, we would do it for Mia's sake.

"Yes, that's all any of us can do," I pulled her in for a hug. I felt like I had aged several decades in minutes, no longer was the scared little girl. I was a parent now, and I had my own girl to care for.

* * *

**GUYS! Last weeks episode of Arrow was so good, and so in tone with my story! I love getting to see Oliver and Felicity be parents!**

**This chapter, was maybe the easiest to write for me! I have been looking forward to having Mia and Felicity interact for so long that the words just poured onto the page!**

**Let me know what you think!!!**


	16. Friends

**Guys! I am so sorry that I took a week off! I have finals coming up and then I had to go out of town for family stuff.**

**BUT! I made up for it by having the longest chapter yet! I am super excited for what this chapter sets up! Enjoy!**

* * *

Oliver

I was worried about Felicity, well I had spent the last two weeks always worried about Felicity. Today though had pushed me to the edge.

I had got to kiss her the way I had only dreamed about. I had gotten to hold her close, to say sorry for every doubt that I had ever had about her, about us. I finally got to apologize for never being there for her.

She hadn't heard me, I wasn't even sure I had said any of the words aloud. But when I held Felicity, I had honestly thought for a moment that things were going to get better.

That had not been the case, as proved over and over, it seemed that my Felicity was gone. The girl that I had loved had changed, and based on her actions she wasn't coming back.

When she had run out I finally took my time to break down. I had punched the wall as hard as I could, feeling the skin on my knuckles split wide open. I furiously wiped tears from my eyes as I steamed.

When I finally was back to normal I walked out of the closet. I was met with jeers but I just stormed past them. I was on my way up when Mia came running up to me.

"What happened?" She asked, taking in my stature, which was still dejected and furious. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of my hand, which I hadn't cleaned up yet. "Dad?" She whispered under her breath.

"I just had a talk with Felicity," I admitted, and watched Mia turn a grey color, taking in my appearance one more time. I let out a deep breath. "She's ok Mia, we just..." I trailed off, thinking of what we had done. I wasn't going to tell her that. "We had a discussion, and I don't really know what happened to her after that. She doesn't want to see me anymore." I gave a dejected laugh, "When she left I got angry."

"I've heard rumors..." She said, her face the same grey color, she bit her lip and looked at the floor. Oh no... I could feel my face going bright red.

"Don't listen to them Mia, just if you can find your mother I need you to be there for her. She really needs you right now."

"Ok," Mia said, her face setting, with a look of determination that made me proud on top of everything. She gave me a small smile before turning on her heels and walking off.

I let out a deep breath before turning and walking off. There was only one thing I could think of doing at a time like this.

So I spent the entire day down in the woodshed. The school had put me in drama, so I was going to take full advantage of it, even if it was just set for a silly musical.

It wasn't difficult labour, especially to someone who had built himself and his daughter their first house. But first I needed to take care of my hand.

So I broke into the first aid kit glued to the wall, and cleaned and wrapped my hand. I flexed my finger, knowing once I got home and was able to get my hands on some _proper_ food I would be all better.

By the time I started to notice the other students coming in for after school rehearsal, I had built and entire two-side frame of a house on a spinning platform that they could move anywhere on the set.

I stopped when Barry and Ray came backstage to help, letting Barry take over I went out into the audience to find myself a drink of water.

When I had finally stopped moving and let myself rest, I realized just how tired I was.

I hadn't been sleeping well the stress of my life and utter upheaval of my life, I found it hard to close my eyes at night.

So, I pulled a bottle of water from the ice chest, and sat down in one of the theatre seats. I took the moment to relax, and see all the people who were starting to mill around.

It never ceased to amaze me the way people never seemed to change. As I got older and older I still had to spend time around young kids who were on the brink of life. They always seemed to be so vibrant, so consumed with vitality.

All I wanted was to go back to that time, to recapture that feeling. To when Felicity and I were in love, expecting a child. The vast expanse of forever had stretched before us, and it had vanished it what seemed like a second.

Mia. It was all for her now, my life had been dedicated to caring for, loving, and raising my daughter. I loved her more than life itself, and there was nothing I would not do in an instant to protect her or make her happy.

That's why, whatever Felicity proposed as how to go on with our lives. I would agree to it. She wanted to get to know Mia, and Mia was desperate to know Felicity.

As a father this was my duty. To make her happy, to give her the mother she had always wanted.

It was then that someone gave a shout and one of the curtains fell back, they were pulling it aside to move up the new set pieces. But it gave me the view of backstage, where a tall blonde was giving the smaller brunette girl who had just come through the door.

Felicity was here, and I could tell that even from back here she looked better. She held herself in a relaxed manner, and she was hugging her friend Ava back. I could see the smile that I loved on the corner of her mouth.

"Felicity!" I heard the voice echo around the theatre as Sara caught sight of Felicity. She sprinted across the stage and basically tackled her in a huge hug. It was nice to see the angry girl being so caring towards her friends. They embraced for a long time before breaking apart, I could see the two of them laughing.

Then I could just see the tone of the conversation change. The way the three girls held themselves as they grouped up. Something was going on. I saw Sara reach forward and grab Felicity's face, turning it to look closely.

"Alright!" She screamed, and every body froze as Sara wheeled around with murder in her eyes. "Where is he!?" She continued to screech.

I froze, knowing exactly who she was searching for. Even as a Vampire over two-hundred years old, I did admit to fear as I saw Sara charge the edge of the stage, looking out for me.

"Listen up, when I find you!" She threatened, brushing of the teacher that was attempting to calm her down. "You!" She said, finding me in the seats, and charging down the stairs.

"What did I tell you? Huh? What did I say about messing with Felicity!" With fire in her eyes she started up the row. I calmly stood as she approached me. "Have you heard the rumors going around the school?" She asked me, now shaking with quiet fury. "I told you to leave her alone!" She drew back her hand to slap me and I made no move to stop her.

"Sara stop!" Felicity caught her hand, having run down the stairs after her friend. I caught a full close up look at her face. She looked better than she had in a long time, except for her lips, which were slightly swollen.

Oh no. Is that what these rumors were based around? I was able to catch Felicity's eye, asking a wordless question. The one look that she gave me assured me of my doubts.

They all believed that... That I had... I wished she would let Sara hit me.

"What is your problem!" Sara asked me, pushing me back. There was no stopping her now, even as Felicity tried to tug her back. The blonde, Ava was still standing with her hands clasped over her mouth on the stage.

"Sara, please just leave him alone!" Felicity begged her friend, but all that did was make Sara turn on her, and she quelled under her gaze.

"Really Felicity?" She asked incredulously. "Then maybe you can explain what all of this is about?" Felicity went pale and sent me a panicked look.

Oh no.

"So there is something I'm missing," Sara spoke, letting out a deep breath. "You have been hiding something from all of us." Her voice rose and I saw Felicity wither. "It's something about them, they are doing something to you and you are letting them Felicity!"

It was them I moved forward. "Leave her alone," I said, not backing down even when Sara rounded on me. "It's not her your mad at, it's me."

"You bet I'm mad at you!" She said. "So are you going to tell me or I going to have to find out myself?"

My jaw clenched, what she was threatening was the safety of my family and friends, and if anyone found us out... I took a step forward, not quite sure what I was planning to do.

Two figures flew between us, as Ava wrapped her arms around Sara pulling her away. Felicity had stepped between the two of us, casting a nervous look over her shoulder before her attention going back to Sara.

That stopped me completely, she was there protecting me. I would never let anything happen to her, but that one small movement opened a door I had honestly though was closed forever.

"What are you doing Felicity?" Sara asked, looking angrily back at me.

"I don't know, but Sara you have to calm down!" She said back, holding her hands up in surrender as her voice grew loud to match her friends.

"Stop!" A voice cut through all conversation, amplified by a microphone.

That stopped all the fighting effectively, as we all spun around to see a lone figure standing on the stage.

It was Mia.

She looked petrified, as everyone, cast, crew, people who had watched us fight turned to look at her. She had done this to stop us. To put an end to the uproar that had been brewing in the audience.

She hated being the center of attention.

* * *

Felicity

I looked at my friends, at Sara who had seemed to calm down, noticing for the first time how much attention she had drawn. 

Her hand closely entwined with Ava, I left it to the other to help keep her in check.

I was dashing up the steps as more people started to turn away, whispering amongst themselves. I didn't care what weird speculations people would make of this and threw my arms around Mia.

“Thank you for stopping them.” I whispered, not knowing what I would have done, not knowing if it came down to it, if I would have sided with Oliver or my lifelong friends.

When Mia pulled away I was delighted to see that her face was lit up and she had a mile wide smile across her face.

“I just wanted to be helpful…” She admitted, all hopeful and incredulous. I could not stop grinning.

"Are you kidding me, Mia you are the only person who has any control over your father and me…” She continued to grin, and it made me so happy. I trailed of as part of the light died in her eyes, her smile slipping to just the corners.

She looked over my shoulder, I turned to see Oliver still standing in the audience. He gave Mia a reassuring nod, you could see the pride in just the way he stood.

You could see the way that one movement made her happy, reaffirmed her confidence. I could see who her number one supporter had been. I met his eyes and held them for a long second, neither one of us smiled or frowned.

It was a good couple of seconds.

"Felicity." I turned around to see Sara standing by Mia with her arms crossed, but I knew my best friend.

She might have looked angry, but I could see how worried she was.

"Thank you, I hope there no hard feeling between you and my family." Mia spoke up, choosing wisely to address her comment to Ava. She met Sara's eyes with a cool, but non-threatening look.

"Well, we care about Felicity. More than anything, but no more shouting." Ava said, with a sure nod, glancing up at Sara. "Right Felicity?" Ava wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

I looked into the eyes of my best friend, willing her to trust me, like she had done a million times before.

_Later? _Sara asked with her eyes, I let out a deep breath and nodded.

_Promise. _That was all that she needed, temper aside, she loved me and respected my judgement.

With that all problems she had were solved. With a kiss on Ava's head, they walked off, and I hugged Mia again.

"I still can't believe how amazing you are." I said, brushing a stray piece of her hair back, a warm feeling spreading throughout my stomach at the beaming smile that she had.

"She got that from you," I spun to see Oliver, standing on the edge of the stage, his grin was directed at Mia.

"Thanks Oliver," She replied, the off note of the phase ringing in all of our ears. She hugged him and he ruffled her hair. "Would you mind if Felicity drove me home today?"

Both of us froze, looking down at our daughter. She had this hopeful look in her eyes that made her look so much younger. I could see so much of myself in her in that moment.

I met Oliver's eyes, I could feel a bit of color in my cheeks as I remembered what we had done that morning.

"It's up to you," We both said at the same time, looking at each other. Mia was positively still with nerves, her eyes darting back and forth between us both. It amazed me every second I looked at her, how she could look so much like Oliver and so much like me.

And both of them had the same look in their eyes. I let out a breath and offered them both a tentative smile. "I'd love to,"

The light in my daughter eyes was enough to make it worth it! "Thank you so much!" She said to her father, throwing her arms around him, he smiled down at her. "Bye Dad," She whispered under her breath. Then she straightened. "I'm going to grab my bag, them we can leave!"

She dashed off and I found myself alone with Oliver. We stood there for a second in silence.

"I'm so sorry," We both said in unison for the second time that day. I blinked, and then because there was nothing left to do I laughed.

It wasn't loud or overly joyful but the reaction in got from Oliver was incredible. His eyes lit up as he stared at me incredulously. "I really am, you know." I said, biting my lip and looking at me. "I am sorry, about everything."

"You know, I literally changed your entire life in one day," He ran his hand through his hair and lowered his voice. "But you love Mia, so we're just going to have to work through this."

I opened my mouth to reply but Mia ran back up, a green bag slung over her shoulder. "I'm ready to go!" She spoke in a quite hushed voice, but my heart swelled at her words.

I turned to Oliver to see him giving Mia the same happy look. "We can talk later," I said, offering him a small smile.

"Yes," He said, the corner of his mouth twitched and it felt like something very big was on the brink of happening between us.

I tore myself away and followed Mia outside.

_"Come on out Felicity, please!" I stayed locked in the back room, my back against the wall, and me concentrating on taking very deep breaths. "Felicity?" Laurel called out again, her voice changing, becoming more cautious. "Are you ok?"_

_"I'm fine," I called out, my voice a bit breathy. "This is just so nerve-wracking, I thought I was prepared for this but I'm not... Laurel I'm not ready!"_

_"Oh Felicity," I heard her say, her voice suddenly a lot louder, and I knew she was standing on the other side of the door. "I promise that no matter what happens, you are going to look beautiful. It's going to be your wedding day."_

_"That's just it," I said, a definite note of hysteria raising in my voice. "A girl only gets married once in her life, do you know how much pressure that is? I'm not like you Laurel, I'm not some ancient enchantress who looks flawless every day of her life. I'm just a normal girl."_

_There was a second of silence before she spoke up. "Felicity, do you not like the dress?" Her voice layered, as she tried to see through all my problems._

_"No," I replied. "I feel as if the corset is cutting off my circulation, and yet somehow it's too big around the neck." I let out a deep breath. "This isn't the right dress, or maybe I'm just not fit to be a bride. Maybe..."_

_"Felicity stop." The command cut off my ramblings. "If you don't like the dress it's going to be alright. Just try the other option."_

_I looked at the other white dress hanging on the wall, I took a sharp breath, feeling the corset digging into my ribs._

_"It costs almost three times as more," I whispered. I had been appalled when the shop assistant had informed us of the price. Laurel had just blinked, having the girl reserve it in a fitting room for us. Still in shock I had selected one of the more basic gowns._

_I wasn't sure of this, yes, Oliver had reassured me of the wealth that he possessed. Saying I would never want for anything ever again, But a whole life of living with ample money, but certainly not riches left habits in the brain._

_"Trust me on this Felicity, just try it on." With out waiting for my reply, I heard her call for the shop assistant to help me._

_As the girl helped me unlace the old dress, I stood still taking deep breaths. I concentrated on the feel of the fabric and not on the bundle of nerves in my stomach._

_I loved Oliver, I loved him with all of my heart. I would follow him to the ends of the earth and lay down my heart for his in an instant. But the wedding was filling me with nerves._

_All the doubts I had ever had about myself ran through my head like a train. My appearance, my ability to handle the life of my soon to be husband. The very idea that he was not as I was, not entirely human. The idea that I would not be the wife he desired._

_I hardly noticed as the girl finished the last of my lacing on the new dress. There was no mirror in this tucked away little corned of the shop, I would have to venture to the front._

_"Are you decent?" Laurel called out to me, I could hear the note of excitement in her voice._

_I was so glad for her, she was an absolute godsend. She had been by my side all through this journey. Weather teaching me about the mystical world, or helping me decide on flowers for my wedding._

_I knew she missed her friends from her other life sometimes, and was grateful that I was another female to spend time with. As was I, having never really had a true friend like her before, I valued and treasured her opinion._

_Especially in times like the present when waves of vicious lying doubt threatened me. "Alright, I'm going to come out."_

_This new dress did not bit at my ribs, or gape in other places. I refused to look down and see myself._

_I was going to be a bride. I was going to marry the man I loved._

_Without waiting for me to open the door, Laurel grew tired of waiting and opened it herself. I stood there anxiously as her eyes ran up and down my dress._

_She was frozen in her place, her eyes wide, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "Felicity," she said, letting out a deep breath. "You look so beautiful."_

_I felt myself flush, a smile appearing on my face. The look on her face gave me confidence. "It's comfortable, I think I would like to see it."_

_Laurel's smile stretched across her face, she pulled me close and gave me a big hug. I hugged her back, and saw that when she pulled away she was wiping tears from her eyes._

_Then I was led out into the front room, I closed my eyes as I approached the mirror, not wanting to see. I felt Laurel take my hand and give it a reassuring squeeze._

_I opened my eyes._

_I looked like a princess, no, a bride. The dress was pure white, with a thin layer of lace over everything, gathering at my waist, then puffing out in gentle waves to the floor. She had even done up my hair, with a veil made of the same web like lace, that you could see the color of my hair from underneath._

_I just stared at myself for several long minutes, hardly recognizing the girl in the mirror. I saw myself walking down the aisle in this dress. I saw the start of the life with the man I loved, and a life where I was loved by my new family._

_This dress, I was going to marry Oliver in this dress._

_In the mirror I saw Laurel looking at me with wide, expectant eyes. Where I smiled at her and nodded, she let out a loud cheer that drew looks from the shop owner._

_"I knew this was the dress!" She cried out, pulling me in for another hug, both of us laughing like little school girls, wiping tears away from our eyes. "I can not wait for you to be my sister Felicity!" She gushed._

_I could not wait either, this dress had completed the picture for me. I had a friend, no a sister, who would walk me through life when things got tough. My maid of honor._

_I had a man, a wonderful man who loved me. A man I was going to marry in only thirty days time. I loved him, and now I could not wait for my wedding, I could not wait to be his wife._

I followed Mia into the house, and into the kitchen where she slung her bag across the table.

Our ride home had been incredible as we learned about each other.

I had figured out my daughter like F. Scott Fitzgerald, C. S. Lewis, and the Hunger Games. A far cry from my love of Shakespeare, Jules Verne, and chick flicks.

Her love of music, much more diverse than mine, ran all the way from Tchaikovsky, Scott Joplin, Elvis, Bob Mia, and Janet Jackson.

She was an incredible person. An absolutely incredible person. I wanted to hear every story, every memory that she had. She had lived through some of the most incredible parts of history.

So it amazed me almost as much when she was just as interested in my life in the 21st century. She wanted to know everything about me. All of the part of my life that I lived without her.

We both just wanted to know each other.

"So you really met President Ulysses S. Grant?" I asked, doubtful and incredulous at the same time. Mia grinned, pushing her hair back.

"Yeah, in 1881. He hadn't been President for about four years at that point but he was still really impressive. He had a giant grey mustache and bought Dad and Tommy a drink when we were all out at the general store."

"That's amazing," I said, looking around the room a bit awkwardly, before sitting in the seat next to Mia.

The kitchen was beautiful, with few personal touches. As I looked around Mia jumped up.

"I forgot to ask you!" She said, walking over to the fridge. "Do you want anything to drink?"

I inwardly gaped at her, while outwardly nodding and saying something simple, like water or tea. With thanks I accepted the bottle she gave me, the whole while fixated on the travel mug she was sticking a straw into.

I know what it was, and even if I had wanted to forget there were suddenly ample memories to back it up. Mia was a vampire. That meant she had to drink blood to survive.

She must have seen a look on my face, because she set her cup down and looked up at me through her lashes. My heart was pounding in my chest as the perturbing detail would not go away.

My little girl was drinking blood. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "So," I asked tentatively. "Did you ever meet anyone else famous?"

Mia let out a breath and smiled. "Laurel and I once tried to flag down Grace Kelly at a boutique in Hollywood!"

I grinned, which prompted her to launch into the full story. I smiled at her, she was so expressive in the way she talked. Every so often I catch a bit of myself or Oliver in her story telling.

It reassured me in what I was doing, I would learn to live with anything to spend more time with my daughter.

"So we see her behind a hat rack and Laurel just," Mia was saying before she was interrupted.

"What did I do?" I spun in my seat to see Laurel and Tommy, each carrying a small suitcase, walk into the kitchen. They were both smiling until they caught sight of me.

They both froze, as did I. Our eyes locked together and the room was dead silent.

* * *

**Yay! Felicity has so many people who care about her, even if they don't express it in the most healthy ways! Sara and Ava know something is up…**

**Next up, it wasn't just Oliver and Mia who lost someone all that time ago…**

**Please let me know what you thought!!!**


	17. Invitations

**Guys, I am so sorry for not posting last week! I had three finals, all 3000 words, all due the same day, and that took up all my time.**

**BUT! I am so glad to be back, and for you guys to see what happens next!**

* * *

Felicity

When I caught eyes with the two of them, my stomach dropped as a wave of memories and sound rushed over me. All dealing with the friendship I had shared with the two people standing in front of me.

But unlike every other time, after a long couple of seconds I was able to blink them away. Even though the memories were still fresh in my mind, they were not over powering me.

They had been my friends, no, they had been my family. The friendship I had felt for them rivaled the friendship I now held with Sara and Ava.

I had not forgotten the way I had acted around them a few days ago. Around all of them. I was so positive that they hated me, what other reaction would they have around someone who had messed up their family so much the past few days.

I had screamed at them, I had honestly hated them in that horrible hour. Now I was just filled with a strong loss. And fear, I knew how powerful the two of them were. I also had seen firsthand proof of how much they loved and would protect my daughter.

So I just looked down, even as Mia exclaimed and ran to them.

"Hey Kid," Tommy said, tearing his eyes away from me and looking down at his niece. I fought against all my instincts not to flinch when he spoke. I could remember all to well, fighting against him as he was dragging me, screaming, all the screaming.

He called Mia kid. The nickname that had once been mine...

Laurel just stared at me, her jaw set and her face white. I didn't even want to look her in the eyes.

Mia noticed, as she went to hug her aunt the expression on her face. The way Laurel was holding herself, she was going to explode or implode within the minute.

I stood up, grabbing my bag and holding it like a shield in front of me. "I'll just go," I went to back up to the front door, and run out of there.

"What?" The hurt in Mia's voice made me cringe. I stopped with my back to all of them. "You just got here..."

I didn't know what to do, I wanted to stay, but the hostility I could feel coming off Laurel and Tommy in waves made me want to run for the hills.

"Stay," I turned to see Tommy looking at me. He looked upset. I knew how he felt, he had been such a wonderful friend to me. I had admired him, and relied on him. I had trusted him unconditionally to protect me and keep me safe. "You stay and I'll leave," He dropped his bag on the floor with a thud. "I need to get us dinner."

He stormed past me, his arm brushing against mine. I used all of my concentration not to flinch. I heard the front door slam, making all of us jump.

I didn't know where to look. When I peaked up through my eyelashes, I saw Mia standing by Laurel, who had her arm around my daughter.

Laurel had her jaw clenched, and was visibly fighting back tears. "Is everything ok?" Mia asked, looking back and forth between us with a sad look on her face.

I wondered how much of that night they had shared with her, how much she knew about the way that I had acted.

I caught eyes with Laurel, and we looked at each other for half a second. Then we both looked away, and she took a deep breath and shook her head. "Everything is fine Mia."

"Well, good." She offered helpfully, still eyeing the two of us to judge our attitudes. I sat back down at the table, the carefree chatty atmosphere that I had been so comfortable in minutes before had disappeared.

"Have you eaten today?" Laurel said, moving over to Mia, looking over her shoulder at the travel cup that had been left on the table.

I knew she cared, that she was interested in my daughter's well-being, but it was a backhanded comment if I ever heard one. She had glanced at me as she said it, her eyes sharp. As if she was daring me to say something about what she had to do to survive.

So I didn't say anything, and Mia still looking nervously between the two of us, shook her head and took a big sip. Laurel hopped up on the counter, leaning against the cabinets as she pulled out her own crystal blue water bottle, taking a long draught of whatever was inside.

"So," Mia continued, taking it upon herself to try to fix the situation. "Laurel called out for her, pretended that they had once gone to high school together, and she took a picture with us!" She grinned and looked over at Laurel. "And that's how we got a signed picture of Grace Kelly!"

The corners of her mouth twitched and her eyes looked warmly back at Mia. "I think I still have that upstairs."

"I'll go get it, you really going to love it!" Mia turned back to me. "I'll be right back Mom." She grinned at me then took off up the stairs.

There was complete silence.

"So have you changed your mind?" Laurel asked. She still had me fixed with a cold stare.

"I never needed to," I replied, ice coating my tone. I was growing angry with the way she was looking at me. We had once been friends, and yet she now looked as if she hated me. "I love Mia and.."

"That's not what I'm talking about!" She snapped, with the air of someone who was barely in control. "I'm talking about Oliver, about this life, about Tommy, and about me." Her hands shook as she clenched them together.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "I really have tried but this is just too much to accept at once."

"Too much?!" She laughed harshly, "You have memories, you believe that this all is true because you love Mia. So what's so bad about the rest of it that you don't want us?"

I stood, my hands now shaking. "Look, Laurel I know you don't understand why I'm doing all of this. But you have to understand what this has been like for me..."

But I could say no more, before Laurel leapt off the counter, standing in front of me.

"Do you have any idea how much I missed you!" She whispered as loudly dared. "You were my best friend! I wanted to scream and cry and set the world on fire when you died! But I couldn't! And do you know why? Because I was to busy taking care of your husband and your daughter!"

I stood there shocked, which only prompted her to continue to scream at me, her voice growing louder and louder.

"I waited weeks, _weeks _Felicity before I had time to even grieve over your death! I had to make sure Oliver was eating, that he didn't lose it and jump off a cliff. I had to hold your daughter and to try and figure out how to raise a baby without a mother! When I finally had a moment to myself I wanted to cry but I was so tired Felicity... I was so scared and so lost and _I just wanted my best friend back_!"

I blinked back tears, watching as Laurel raged and raged, tears running unchecked down her face.

"Here you are, barging into our lives where we had lived quite well without you! You destroy Oliver, and run around happily with Mia, forgetting that she has a family that loves her! And what about me Felicity, what about your best friend, the girl who raised your daughter?! _What about me_?"

I had my hands pressed over my mouth, as if trying to contain everything I was feeling. Laurel just stood there, shaking and breathing deeply, having released every feeling that she had pressed into her soul.

Mia came sprinting down the stairs, screeching to a halt when she saw the two of us standing there. Her eyes were wide, and she just looked between the two of us, waiting for one of us to move.

I wiped my eyes, trying to press away any tears of guilt.

I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to do. Laurel just stood there, letting her tears run unchecked.

So when Oliver walked into the house, I could not have been more relieved.

* * *

Oliver

I turned onto our street, letting out a deep breath. When I really considered the day, especially against the past couple I'd had, this had been a good one.

Excluding the morning, and the disastrous yet invigorating kiss with Felicity, something had happened between us at the end of the day.

She had smiled, at me, bringing forth so many memories and feeling that only hours before I had thought I would have to lock away forever.

As I saw the house, it took me several seconds to realize what was wrong with it. The blue camero that Tommy had owned since the 90's was parked next to a grey car that looked vaguely familiar.

That must be Felicity's car, and if she was home with Mia, Laurel and Tommy. I whipped into the driveway, turning of the car, feet hitting the ground before the motor truly died.

I was only a few paces from the door before it swung open and Tommy walked out. We both stopped and I looked him up and down. He looked angry, but not as much as he had the past couple of days.

"What's going on in there?" I asked, trying to look beyond him into the house. But I stopped when I saw Tommy struggling to come up with words to say.

He stood there, shrugged then ran his hand over his shaved hair. "I don't know, I left. After how I acted I knew Felicity didn't want to see me. And it makes Mia so happy..." He let out a deep breath. "I was going to run and grab dinner, want to come with?"

I really did, and was about to say yes when we both heard shouting coming from inside the house, and I knew that voice. That wasn't Felicity.

That was Laurel.

I started for the house, but Tommy extended his arm, hitting me chest, stopping me. "Just remember that we struggled too Oliver." He said, his expression and tone as serious as they came. "We struggled and missed her for two hundred years."

He moved past me towards his car. I stood there frozen for a second, taking in his words before I ran into the house.

The three of them were standing in an oddly triangular shape. Mia halted by the door and Felicity and Laurel practically nose to nose.

I couldn't see Felicity's face, but Laurel's shocked me. She was normally so composed, and now tears were streaming down her face.

She looked up and caught my eyes, she backed up into the corner, her arms wrapped around herself.

Felicity spun around and let out a deep breath, she was not crying but her eyes were bright and her cheeks red.

She seemed _relieved _to see me, which floored me. But she relaxed visibly as I entered the kitchen, Mia too had brightened up considerably. I only needed to look at her face to see she wanted my help in diffusing what ever was going on.

I watched Felicity out of the corner of my eye. She looked horrified and shocked, as she looked down in disbelief. Whatever had gone on between her and Laurel had thrown her.

I didn't know what to say. I just stood there as silent as the rest of them before Mia walked over to the table, picked up her cup, and took a long sip. "I made understudy for the musical." She said to her Aunt, offering her a sad smile.

Laurel smiled back at her but it was still wracked with pain.

Felicity looked between all three of us, then sat next to our daughter.

The two of them started talking to each other in low voices, Mia pulling a photo from her bag and showing it to her.

While Felicity seemed ok, I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was still consumed my whatever had happened before I had got there.

So I crossed over to Laurel, who was still in the corner, she had stopped crying but still was literally trying to hold herself together.

I put my hand on her shoulder, she looked at me and a wave of understanding flashed between us.

"I probably do need to go now," We both looked to see Felicity staring at us, taking in the way we stood and the expression on our faces.

She stood, slinging her bag over her shoulders and hugging Mia with all of her heart. Then she crossed over to us, stopping with five feet separating the two of us.

"There's a party tomorrow," She started, looking up and meeting both out our eyes. "It's a pool party for the cast of the musical." She pulled a card out of her bag and set it on the table. "I understand you might not want to go, but you are invited, all of you." She looked back at Mia. "It would mean a lot to me if all of you could make it. We could maybe spend some time together."

I looked at her, she was biting her lip. She really did seem to want us to go. I caught sight of Mia over her shoulder, she looked so hopeful. I could feel Laurel by my side.

"We will try to be there," I answered for all of us. I could feel Laurel glancing at me, but I ignored her, just smiling at Felicity.

"Ok, great." She smiled, looking all around the room. "Well, goodbye I guess."

She turned to leave them paused, and spun around and walked right to us.

Before I could say anything she had hugged Laurel, who for half a second looked shocked, and was then hugging her best friend back for all she was worth.

It wasn't a long hug, after a few seconds Felicity pulled away, her face now tinged with sadness. She turned and walked toward the door, pausing to kiss Mia of the forehead.

Once the door closed I turned to Laurel, who had tears running down her face again. "Are you ok?" I asked her, and heard the scraping of a chair as Mia stood and walked over to us.

Laurel smiled, despite the tears still rolling down her face. "She told me thank you." She whispered, her voice breaking on the last word.

Oh Felicity, thank you. I thought, as both Mia and I moved to hug Laurel.

* * *

**Guys! I love writing about Laurel! I really wanted to spend some time focusing on how she is dealing with everything, as well as having Felicity realize just how many people were affected by her death!**

**IM NOT READY FOR CRISIS/ARROW TO END GUYS!**

**Also, the next two chapters are huge for this story, with the next chapter ending on a huge cliff hanger! Spoiler? The title is _Betrayals_! Its going to change everything for everyone, as well as answer some questions that everyone seems to have forgotten about…**

**Please leave some feedback! I really want to hear how you liked this chapter, as well as thoughts about what is coming next!!!!!**


	18. Betrayals

**Hello! Are you ready for this? I’m not!**

** Also, this story has 5000 hits, I am so thankfull for all my readers!  **

* * *

Oliver

I wasn't going to lie and say I was nervous. Out of everything that we had been through the past week, I was intimidated. My stomach was a huge ball of nerves, and over something so absolutely ordinary.

We were going to a party with Felicity. Well, we were going to see Felicity at the party, but the idea was still the same.

Our lives had been chaos and confusion and pain lately. This was just going to be normal, a chance to see Felicity in the life she now had. The life she apparently loved enough to cling to. She had friends, family, a different upbringing than the girl I had fallen in love with.

Not only that, she had grown up in the 21st century, as apart from the girl I had known from the 19th century as was possible. She had grown up with the conveniences and technology that had not even been ideas when she had last been alive.

It was the same thing with us, we had lived lives, grown around the loss of Felicity. We had interacted with so many people, gone to more parties than I could ever count. 1920's prohibition gala's, 1960's sock hops, all the way to current day frat parties.

I had gone to parties, I had enjoyed the company of other people for almost two hundred years. There had never been another girl, I had lived a strange life as a single father frozen at a young age. Also, I knew deep in my heart that there would never be anyone but Felicity for me.

But I wasn't sure how to act around Felicity at a party. It didn't stop the eagerness though, at this point any chance I got to see her, or spend time with her was a blessing.

Clearly I was not the only one who thought so. Mia had been nervously fretting all day. Even pulling out her favorite purple swimming suit she had bought in the 60's and had only worn two times before. Even Laurel had taken more time than normal getting ready.

I checked my reflection in the mirror. Brushing my hair back, I made sure I looked presentable one last time.

For me, there was so much more riding on this than just a party. Two days ago Felicity had told me to stay away, that she didn't want me in her life.

Yet, almost every situation between us since then she had been on my side, been near me, giving me looks and smiling at me.

I didn't know what she wanted, and I was ready to accept the worst. But if she really was starting to change her mind...

If she would have me, I was going to get my wife back.

* * *

Felicity

I couldn't do this, I could not do this. No, please no more.

I tried to calm myself down as I looked down at Sara's pool. My hands were clenched at my side, and I was fighting everything I could not to run away.

"Hey," I jumped with a cry, backing away from the pool, turning to see a shocked and concerned Ava staring at me with a giant bowl in her arms. "Are you ok?" She asked, setting the bowl on the side table and pulling me in for a hug.

"I'm fine," I said, with a shaky laugh, not convincing her in the least. "You just scared me that's all." I grinned up at her sweet face, as she kept her arm around me.

I had been around all day helping them set up the decorations for the party. They knew not to push me, but they still did everything they could to make me better.

"Can you go into the kitchen, I think Sara still need's help bringing out all the snacks." She said, giving me one more smile before letting me go.

I nodded and walked off, making sure to stay as far away from the pool as possible. I was only a few minutes away from another freak out.

Drowning, that was one of the only memories I hadn't been able to completely shake off. Every night I would wake up either screaming for Mia and Oliver or sweating, my chest heaving as I tried to breathe.

Two nights ago, I had tried to take a shower to shake off the pounding in my chest. But with the water spinning around me only made it worse, and I had a meltdown that rivaled the one I'd had at his house. Shutting the water off I had stayed curled at the floor of the shower for the rest of the night.

I had loved swimming, but I had washed my hair in the sink to avoid triggering myself this morning.

I had died, someone had held my head under the water until I suffocated.

Now Ava and Sara expected me to play water polo with them and I knew I couldn't do it.

I was glad that I had invited Mia and the rest of them. I would have someone to talk to as everyone else swam. I still had my black bikini on for show, with a cute white cover dress I had stolen from Ava.

Walking into the kitchen, I grabbed a large tray of cupcakes. "Hey, I thought the party started at five?" I asked Sara, who was balancing several different dishes in her arms. "That's what it said on the invitations." I sat down my tray and took some of the ingredients from her.

"We changed it to six thirty, gave us more time to get ready, I think you still had some of the old fliers." She said, not really paying attention to me as she mixed up ingredients for seven layer dip.

I joined in next to her, opening the cans she handed me.

"Really?" I asked, suddenly very nervous about the fact Mia, Oliver and possibly the others would be here an hour and a half before any other people. Sara picked up on my tone and looked back at me.

"What?" She asked, her eyes reading my face. I told her in a short abridged version about how I had invited Mia and Oliver to the party. She pursed her lips, going back to her recipe.

"Well, then I guess we have to do what we can to make them feel welcome." She said, not looking very happy about it. I hugged her, and saw the corners of her mouth twitch. "But do promise me something Felicity," She said, turning and looking me in the eye, suddenly very serious. "Tonight after everybody leaves, can the three of us talk?"

I let out a deep breath. I had known this was coming, they had been about as patient as they could be. "Yes," I said with finality. She looked relieved as my mind raced as I thought about how much I would be willing to tell them.

"Thanks," Sara gave me a peck on the cheek, them pushed me towards the door. "Now go outside and finish out there, and send Ava in to help me," She wiggled an eyebrow at me and winked.

It made me laugh, I waved her away and went out side. "Ava, Sara wants to see you in the kitchen," She smiled and skipped off to join her.

I grinned after them. They made me happy, maybe the did deserve to know they truth about all of this.

"Felicity," I heard the whisper from the gate. I spun around to see Mia standing there, a Hawaiian halter dress tied around her neck and a giant blue beach bag on her shoulder. Behind her stood Oliver, who gave me a sheepish smile. I could feel my face light up as I smiled at my daughter.

"Hey Mia!" I said, pulling her into a big hug. I gave Oliver a small smile, not quite sure what to say to him. "I'm so sorry," I said, my arms still wrapped around Mia. "I gave you guys the wrong time, the party doesn't start for about another hour..."

"Oh, well we can come back..." Oliver trailed off, looking as awkward as I felt. "I can go tell Laurel, she's helping Tommy park the car."

"No!" I hurried to say. After everything, the last thing I wanted to do was upset Laurel.

When she had screamed at me, it had cut me to the core. I had never even thought about what she had gone through, or what she had done for my family when I had been... Dead.

"Please stay, I'm sure we will be fine."

"Great," Mia said, looking between us then going to set her bag on a lawn chair. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Sure," I grinned and gave her a roll of streamers. When I turned around though I saw Laurel and Tommy standing by Oliver. "Hey," I said, not quite knowing what to do.

"Hey Felicity," Tommy said, running a hand through his hair. "Anything you need us to do?"

"I'd love to help decorate." Laurel spoke up, giving me a small smile. I felt we were on the verge of something great happening. It was quite possible things were going to go well. I might get one of my oldest friends back.

"Umm, Tommy and Oliver I could use your help over here putting lights in the tree. Laurel, you could help Mia.." I offered, and we stood there for a beat before separating.

I sat up in the branches, this was the tree I had spent my childhood racing Sara and Ava to the top of. I catch a string of lights that was thrown up to me and wind it around a branch. I gave Oliver a small smile every time he looked at me.

Could my heart be changing? Could there ever be a time where...

My thoughts were torn apart as a scream ripped through the air.

Laurel.

I was out of the tree in a second, barely aware of Oliver's arms helping me down.

"You!" Laurel screamed, as if she was being ripped apart. I was running towards her when I froze, taking in the situation in front of me.

Shattered glass and chips lay all around Sara and Ava's feet, they were both looking at Laurel, their faces white like they had seen a ghost.

"It was you this whole time!" Laurel continued to scream, Mia was fighting to hold her back. The accusation in her voice cut me to my core, my eyes flicked back and forth between my two sets of friends?

"Sara," I whispered, and she looked at me, her face pale and her jaw clenched.

Ava had her arm linked to hers and her eyes were filling with tears. "Guys what's going on?" I asked, suddenly my mouth was dry, and my heart thudding.

"They're witches!" Laurel cried out, and I flinched backwards, suddenly not finding myself able to breathe. "They were like me! I knew them." Her voice broke from screaming, and she sagged against Mia. "They were some of the ones who wanted to cast me out!"

Tears flowed unchecked down her face. "They used to be my friends..."

No.

This wasn't possible.

Not them.

Not them too.

"Laurel," Ava spoke for the first time, but was cut off by another scream.

"This whole time I wondered if this was my fault! If this was just a crazy revenge that you enacted on me!" Tommy was there now, holding his wife back while Mia just held her hand. “You knew who she was, you always were watching me! You ruined a family's life! She was my friend! My best friend and you killed her!"

I watched Sara and Ava.

I was alone, I thought, I am so very alone.

"And you couldn't even leave it at that, this whole time, you've kept her from us. Lying to her! Growing up with her, making her believe you're her friend!"

"Now wait just a second!" Sara cut in, her cheeks flushing, a sign she was about to lose it. Ava's eyes just darted between all of us.

"Is it true?" My voice came out as a whisper. I halted everyone in there tracks as their eyes swung towards me. "This whole time you've been... You were..." I couldn't say it. I looked into the eyes of my oldest and best friends.

Sara stopped, her face falling, looking upset and she took a step towards me. But I threw up my hands in caution.

"Has everything in my life been a lie?" I cried out, both of them flinching at my shrill voice. "I loved the two of you! I would have trusted you with my life!" I wanted to cry again, I felt so sad, so empty. No tears fell though, as I shook.

"We didn't kill you Felicity," Sara pleaded with me, with a tone I had never heard from her.

"We've been protecting you" Ava said, reaching her hand out, like she expected me to grab it. Like we would all hold hands like we had done countless times before. I bit my lip to stop it from trembling.

"Because you didn't save her in the first place!" Laurel yelled. "I know them Felicity, please believe me! They were a part of all of this!"

"Yes!" Ava spoke up, beating Sara to it. “We are the reason she's back."

"At one point you were our best friend Laurel." Sara pleaded, her face cold, her eyes heart-broken.

My whole life, everything had been a lie.

"Felicity was my best friend," Laurel was keening now. "You both used to be..." She trailed off. Her life, like mine, had just been upended.

Like a blade slipping right into the heart.

"And now she's ours, we're the one who have been there for her all this time!" Sara said, lashing out. "Not you guys!"

It was the wrong thing to say, with a scream Laurel tore her self from Tommy's arms and ran at them.

No! I took off, not sure who I was going to protect. "Laurel stop it!" I yelled out, running in-between the three of them.

They all were fighting, I wanted them to stop, just stop please.

I tried to push my way into the middle, but an arm hit me squarely across the chest.

I lost my balance, and with a gasp and a scream went tumbling into the pool.

* * *

**AHHH! What horrible place to end the chapter…. I’m so sorry (kinda, not really)**

**The truth is out! I’ve been so excited to post this chapter, and for y'all to see the fallout it brings. Nobody is who we thought they were! How is this going to effect Felicity?**

**Because this is a cliffhanger, I have a proposal. If we can get to 55 comments I’ll post again on Monday as a Happy Holiday gift to all my wonderful readers!**

**I can’t wait to hear what you think of this one!**


	19. Asphyxiations

**Wow! I was so happy that you all liked last chapter, we hit my comment goal in one day! Thank you so much for your continued interest!**

** Heads up! New POV, also there are jumps between the past and present included in this chapter! _Italics_ = past! **

* * *

_Laurel_

_I collapsed into the chair, hiding my face in my hands. I shook with a mixture of exhaustion and fear. I had not slept more than a couple of hours in the past few days. But I had not time to rest, I had to get up. I had to check on Mia._

_I needed Felicity, I needed her more than I would have ever known. My eyes burned but no tears fell. With more energy than it normally took, I made myself stand up._

_Why? Why did the most kind, generous, loving person I know..._

_She was good, Felicity hadn't deserved this!_

_My stomach twisted, I could remember trying to drag Oliver away from her body. Mia secured in my other arm, they had both screamed and cried. They fought against me, knowing who I wasn't._

_It had only been when my husband had shown up, when Tommy grabbed Oliver and forced him away were we able to get him to leave. I had clutched my newborn niece to my chest, my head low, unable to block the screaming coming from Oliver._

_I walked towards Mia's room, each step bearing the weight on my shoulders._

_It had been two weeks._

_Two whole weeks since our lives had been torn asunder. Since my best friend had been murdered. Since Oliver lost his wife, and Mia lost her mother. I stopped half way down the hall, sagging against it._

_Every speck of energy had been devoted to care of my remaining family. Tommy had spent so much time trying to get something out of Oliver, reducing himself to tears at one point._

_I remembered my husband clinging to me. I had never felt so lost in my life, everyone I loved was crumbling before me. I had to be the strong one, somehow I had to drag my family to a place where we could recover._

_No one was sleeping, living hour to hour._

_No, what we were doing was not living anymore, this was surviving._

_I stopped outside Mia's room. We had moved into the new house faster than quickly. We had run away from the old town as fast as we could, the few belongings that had made it with us scattered around. Mia's crib and a cot had been set up in the room closest to mine. In trying to help the both of us._

_I felt like screaming, I should have been there helping her! I spent days cursing the other witches, the only people who might have been able to stop this! Why had they done this to all of us?_

_I paused in the door frame. Shock breaking through my exhaustion as I froze, taking in the sight in front of me._

_They were both asleep, both Oliver and Mia. They were asleep at the same time. I don't think this had happened once since Felicity had died._

_I let out a deep breath I had been unaware I had held. This was a break I had not expected._

_Oliver had been distraught, sleeping even less than I had. Tommy and I were worried he would do something revengeful or desperate. He alternated from bouts of apathy, to a depressed and repressed rage._

_When he was in that last mood he quite honestly frightened me. I was afraid he was going to hurt someone, with his number one choice being himself. The only thing he gave any attention to was his daughter, and the only person that could make Mia calm down._

_They recognized each other, and the lost they were both going through._

_I turned away from them, feeling the exhaustion begin to creep in. Maybe I would be able to have a rest._

_But the universe had other plans for me, and at that moment Mia let out a wail. I bit down on my lip so hard I thought I might draw blood._

_My hands clenched at my side I turned back to her room, one step at a time._

_"Please Mia," I froze, horror, rising in my throat. Without meaning to, she had woken up Oliver. No, he needed to sleep! How could he have woken up when he was that exhausted? I didn't know what to do, Oliver could take care of her, but what state was his mind in?_

_"Stop crying baby girl," I bit down on my lip again, my chest rising and constricting so painfully, I feared it would beat out of my chest. "Mia, I know... I know what's wrong. I couldn't save her. I couldn't save her Mia.."_

_He wasn't crying, but you could hear the pain in his voice from in the hall. At that point I needed to step in. While in my heart I knew he would never do anything to harm his daughter... He was exhausted, broken, and alone._

_I stepped into the room, what was left of the pieces of my broken heart crumbling to dust._

_Oliver sat sprawled on the floor, the tiny bundle that was his daughter clutched so close to his chest. He was still speaking to her, audible over her crying._

_"I'm so sorry. I am so very sorry." He said the phrase over and over, his voice rising and falling, doing nothing to stop the cries of his daughter._

_I knelt beside him, wary, like I was approaching a wounded animal. "Oliver," I whispered, keeping my voice calm. "Let me have the baby."_

_He started shaking even harder, and Mia cried even louder at the movement._

_"Felicity's dead," He spat out, through sobs. His entire frame was wrecked. Before anything else, I pulled Mia from his arms. holding her close to me._

_I fell back from my crouched position, and scooted away from Oliver and he slammed the heels of his palms into his eyes. "She's dead!" He repeated, while Mia continued to wail. She was so upset, she wouldn't stop crying!_

_Then Tommy burst into the room, giving me half a glance to me before running to Oliver, who continued to apologize to Felicity. He stopped mourning, his breath becoming me erratic._

_He was now in a full panic, choking over his own tears and Tommy hauled him to his feet and dragged him from the room._

_I stayed on the floor, my back against the wall. I clutched Mia to me, forcing my arms to stay still as not to upset her anymore. Everything was so overwhelming._

_Drops hit Mia's blanket and I saw with horror that tears were poring unchecked down my face. I hadn’t had chance to cry yet, my despair of Felicity had never manifested itself in tears. I felt so human and so hopeless._

_Mia had not stopped crying, and hysteria was winding its was up into my throat and brain. She knew I wasn't her mother, that I was so lost, so ignorant of how to help her. How was I going to do this? How could I take care of Mia and my family?! I couldn't do it! I can't..._

_I wanted Felicity._

_I started crying, sobs wracking my body, my cries and wails matching the baby's. I tried not to shake her, but all the grief I had put aside since Felicity had died had burst through with no intention of stopping._

_Grief tore me into pieces, and I was soon gasping for air. The walls closing in on me. The only thing keeping me to this earth was the small girl in my arms that would never know her mother._

* * *

_Felicity_

_"NO!" I screamed, clutching Mia to me, but they jerked her from my arms. Both of us were screaming as they dragged me away. "Mia!" I screamed after her. I couldn't see my baby anymore. They dragged me back over to the barrel. "No please, please!"_

_"We gave you more than enough chances, if we can't find him then we can do the next best thing. Kill her." I screamed as he walked away. Then I was back underwater._

_I cried out for my family, for my baby. I knew that I wasn't going to be saved in time. I struggled as long as I could, and felt the water filling my lungs. It's ok, I saved them, they weren't going to die because of me. Even though I was underwater I could tell I was crying, how strange._

_That's funny. Even though it was dark I could see light in the distance. I felt my heart constrict, it hurt so much... I don't want to go... The light... my family... Mia, my baby girl... Oliver._

_Oliver!_

I thrashed about, trying to force my head above the water. I still felt the hand around my neck forcing me down.

But that couldn't be right. Memories swirled around me, and I no longer knew where or when I was.

_Someone was killing me._

I had been betrayed.

My life had been a lie.

My lungs were filling up again. I was screaming, screaming louder than I ever had before.

No one could hear me.

_Mia, my baby girl._

Screaming.

_Screaming so hard my chest hurt_, the water pulling me down... down...

Oliver!

* * *

Oliver

This life almost didn't even seem possible anymore. I watched as Laurel screamed at her old friends. Mia and Tommy holding her back, and Felicity swaying slightly, watching her life fall apart.

How was this even possible, I glared at the two, Ava and Sara. They had known, they had spoken to me, looked me in the face and pretended like they were completely normal.

My hands were clenched, but I stayed back. As much as I wanted to get my word in with them. This was Laurel's fight. I had never seen her like this, ever. She was normally reserved, Felicity being the only topic to ever really made her approach the edge of her emotions.

So I watched them, keeping my eye on Felicity. I loved her, and it was physically paining me to see how distraught she was becoming. I still knew her, every little nuance. From the way she was holding herself, I could see the pain. I wanted to help her, but even I at this point had no idea what she was going through.

Her whole life had been a giant fabrication.

The shouting was growing more heated, and in watching Felicity I missed Laurel rushing the two witches. With a rush of dread, Felicity was running after her, straight into danger.

I couldn't move, I was frozen, a shout stuck in the roof of my mouth as I watched Felicity try to pull the fighting girls apart.

She fell back and hit the water with a splash. My intake of breath was painful.

I could feel myself moving as the world slowed. Before I jumped in after her I saw the terrified look on Mia face.

Then I was swimming to Felicity, fighting to get to her.

I had to save her this time. I was here, I could get to her. I was not going to let her down again.

When I reached her, it had only been a few seconds. Felicity was under the water, I panicked even more as I saw her curled under the water, arms wrapped around her head and screaming.

I dove, reaching out and grabbing her, dragging her to the surface. She thrashed and fought against me the entire time.

With a giant heave, I lifted her out of the water, and she tumbled to the ground as I pulled myself out. She convulsed once, coughing up water, choking over it.

She was a trembling mess, curled into herself sobbing. "Felicity," I whispered, feeling sick. I knew where her mind must have been. Back in that barn with her last moments. My own heart beating a wild pattern against my ribs, but I stayed back.

I didn't want to upset her. Her face was buried in her knees, and over her shoulder I saw Mia sunk down to her knees, her face a mask of pain. But then Felicity sat up, her eyes wild as she cried out.

"Oliver!" Her voice was desperate and I moved forward with no second thought.

"Oliver!" She cried out again, as I pulled her close and crushed her to me. Her fingernails sunk into my arm, and into my shoulder. It should have hurt, but I just held my trembling wife close as she sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, I tried to save her!" She sobbed into my chest, the both of us clinging to each other.

I felt ill.

"It's ok Felicity, I've got you." I whispered into her hair. This was everything I wish I had been able to do the first time. I would have given up my life to save her that night.

Our voice meshed and rose together, both of us saying and murmuring to each other everything we could not longer keep inside.

I kissed her forehead, not caring of the consequences. She didn't seem to notice, as she just held me close. Then she sat up widely looking around, I gripped the tops of her arms, trying to calm her down.

"Felicity, it's ok. Look at me, you're safe. I've got you and no one is ever going to hurt you again." She let out a straggled breath.

"Where's Mia?" She asked, desperate fear as she fought against me to get to our daughter.

"I'm right here," Mia said, her voice high, as she crouched next to us at once, her eyes wide and jaw set. She had a shell-shocked look about her, she had gotten a small taste of what she had been through that night.

No one existed in that moment but our family as with a cry of relief Felicity threw her arms around Mia and they clung to each other. Without a second thought, I wrapped my arms around both my girls, holding my family together the best way I could.

My hands shook, with sadness then with shock as Felicity's arm slipped around me and she was holding on to me as dearly as she was to our daughter.

I love you. I wanted to tell her. But this was enough, we were together. I wasn't going to let either of my girls ever get hurt again. I was going to protect them.

* * *

**So, was this worth the wait?! I loved getting to explore Laurel’s point of view.**

**Poor Felicity, Oliver, and Mia, having to face such a tangible reminder of their past. This is going to be a huge moment for them as a family moving forward.**

**Also, just how are things going to precede now that everyone knows the truth about Sara and Ava, how will loyalties be tested, because things have to change…**

**Happy Holidays readers! I am so thankful to have people who enjoy what I write every week! Enjoy your celebrations, and I will be back on Sunday (for Apologies!)**


	20. Changes

**I hope everyone had a great holiday!**

* * *

Felicity

I don't know how long I had sat there. The sky had been dark for a while and somewhere in the house a clock was chiming...

I counted, it was now ten. Four hours. I had been here almost four hours. I had a warm blanket wrapped around me and I held on tight to Mia's hand.

They had taken me back to their house. I closed my eyes, remembering my screaming at my best friends, telling them to leave me alone as I held on to Oliver and Mia.

From them on out I had tuned myself out of things. I remembered Laurel taking off running, with Tommy calling after her. I remembered Oliver giving me the blanket.

I raised my head to make sure he was still there. Oliver had sprawled across the chair in the living room, he looked exhausted. When he saw me looking he made as if to get up. I shook my head slightly, not to disturb Mia.

She had fallen asleep about thirty minutes ago. She had stayed by my side the entire time. When she had slumped over I had wrapped my arms around her. I was careful not to move her as I looked at Oliver.

I opened my mouth to say something to him, but at the sight of him watching me I grew nervous and shut it.

Closing my eyes I leaned back against the couch, my daughter nestled against my shoulder. I let out a deep breath.

Witches. Sara and Ava were both witches. They had been these mystical and magical creatures from the moment I had met them.

I inhaled sharply, calming myself in the fact that my lungs were expanding and contracting. I'd had panic attacks before, all since finding out about who I really was. But this had been worse, I had honestly not known where I was. I had relived every painful second of drowning and dying.

I had wanted Oliver, the entire time I had been freaking out I had wanted Oliver. When he pulled me out of the water all I had wanted to do was cling to him and my daughter and never let go.

I leaned my head against Mia's. She had been so quiet, I knew I had scared her. She had understood all of my freaking out but this had been different. She had been there too, she had seen first hand part of what that night had been like.

"Felicity?" My eyes snapped open, Oliver had moved to the chair right next to the couch, and was about twelve inches from me. I jumped, then held very still as Mia stirred. "I'm so sorry," He said, his voice coming out in a rushed whisper, looking down at his daughter, making sure she was not waking up. "You looked upset, I thought you might be having a nightmare."

I shook my head. "I'm fine." I said, trying to smile but not sure if he caught it. He had nodded and turned away, subtly shifting away from me. "Thank you." I added, wondering why he was distancing himself from me.

"I'm so sorry Felicity," He said, looking me in the eye. I looked at him with wide eyes. I was shocked. What was he apologizing for?

"What?" I whispered, my whole brow furrowed, trying to figure out what he was doing.

He gave me a sad world worn smile, before continuing. "For everything that's been going on. For your friends." I was floored, what was prompting him to say this?

"You have nothing to say sorry for," I said so determinedly that it verged on sharp. The sad look on his face just spurred me on. "We have both been through..." I looked down at Mia sleeping. "We have been through more than two people ever should, you more than anyone."

He looked like he wanted to protest but I kept talking. "Yes, we have both been tortured enough by this. But we are living, we are surviving. Even if this takes us one day at a time we are both alive." I said, surprisingly happy at the conviction in my tone. "We both have Mia,"

That did break his sadness, as we both looked down at our daughter. She was so perfect. I loved her so much.

"You don't have to be my wife," The statement was so sudden and so surprising that my eyes grew wide as I stared at him.

"What?" I asked, having to force myself to whisper.

"I know part of all of this is I want us to go back to how it was before." He started and then took a deep breath. "But I have to accept that you are not the same girl, no matter how much I want you to be. I have to accept that you have grown and changed. I mean, I have too. I just want you to know, I want you to be your own person. Today, it reminded me how I lost you once, and I don't want it to happen again."

It wasn't just Mia and I who suffered from PTSD about that night. It had stretched to cause more pain to more people than I thought possible.

"So, I don't expect..." He trailed off. "Just be happy, get to know our daughter. Reconcile with Laurel and Tommy, even your other friends if you want. Just know I will be here for you, whatever type of friend or person you need, I will be that."

He nodded and sat back, not sure what to do now he had given his little speech.

I stared at him dumbstruck. My head reeling at the freedom his words carried. He had basically set me free, given me permission to cast him away.

My stomach twisted and I realized that was perhaps not what I wanted. When I had screamed underwater, I had wanted Oliver, I had lived in that moment where I had loved him more than life.

He was giving up so much. "I'm sorry," I said, looking into his eyes, biting my lip as I tried to work out the new onslaught of emotions that was hitting me. "I am so sorry that I have acted in a way where you need to apologize to me. We were married once, we have a daughter together. We loved each other. And I don't want you to..."

The door opened, cutting me off. I was glad, not quite sure where I had been going. I felt like I had been on the edge of something huge, and I was torn from wanting to back up or jump off.

I turned from his shell-shocked face to see Laurel and Tommy were back.

As soon as I saw them I moved to jump up, but was stopped by Mia. Then Oliver was there, slowly shifting his daughter into his arms. I smiled at him before I was up, walking over to my friends.

Laurel looked terrible, her beautiful clothes were ruined. Her hair was a sweaty mess and her cheeks were red. I wondered how long she had run before Tommy could convince her to stop.

"I'm so sorry," I said, and then we were hugging. She wasn't crying, and I understood that. This had gone so far beyond tears, it was shock, disbelief, and pain. We clung to each other for a few seconds.

"No, I'm sorry I didn't know... That I wasn't able to stop them." I pulled away from her in disbelief.

"None of this was your fault Laurel." I said, in that same determinedly sharp voice, checking myself to make sure it stayed at a whisper. "None of us knew, that's the whole point! You can't blame yourself, I don't blame you, none of us do!"

She let out a deep breath, and relaxed slightly. I didn't seem to get the monumental weight of what I had said to her until Tommy pulled me in for a rough hug.

I held onto him tight, we had perhaps been the most distant, had not aired out all the problems between us. I was filled with joy, the fact that I was working my way back. That the friendship we had once had might be coming back.

I looked at him, and he smiled and ruffled my hair. There was still plenty we both had to apologize for... We had both acted terribly to each other these past weeks. I wanted to say I was sorry, but one little nod from him and I knew we were both forgiven.

"We need to spend time together," I said, smiling around at all three of them, then at Mia. She was still asleep, leaning against her Dad, looking perfectly content. "I want to make up for all of this lost time."

I looked hopefully around at my friends. Laurel still looked sad, but I knew that what she was going through was enormous. I hoped that maybe we could try to conquer out past together. Tommy smiled at me, and my heart leapt at the idea I might get one of my dearest friends back.

And Oliver, sitting there looking up at me, one arm around our daughter. I thought back to our conversation earlier, and felt that same leap in my stomach.

"Let's get the kid up to bed," Tommy said, looking between us. "You too Felicity, you need to go home and sleep. We have been through enough today."

He wrapped an arm around his wife. I reached out and squeezed Laurel's hand.

"We are going to get through this." She said, a smile breaking through on her face. "We have faced everything else and come out on top. We can do this." I smiled at her as she grinned at me.

Things were really changing, my heart beat fast as the hopefully bright future stretched before me.

"We will wake up Mia," Laurel said, giving Tommy then I a look. "Oliver can walk you out Felicity." I was struck at how she seemed to know, how well she seemed to know the both of us.

Oliver and I glanced at each other. I gave him a small smile, which he returned with a surprised face.

So Oliver walked me out, and I was touched by the sweet act of a gentleman. I closed the door, standing next to him on the porch. There was one lightbulb going strong that lit the small path to my car.

So I turned to say goodbye. My heart beat maybe a half step faster than it normally did.

"Oliver..." I said, looking up into his eyes. I smiled without thought at his face. He looked so handsome. Then I realized that he was waiting for me to answer.

"Umm, well." I said, suddenly unsure of what I wanted to tell him. "I just, about being your wife. What I wanted to tell you..." My brain was not giving me the words that I wanted to say.

Oliver looked down at me, his brow furrowed looking so adorably confused.

Screw it. I jumped off the ledge.

I pulled him down and kissed him once, short and hard. Then for a long second we both stared at each other.

The night continued on around us, the edges softened on the world that had been so harsh to me lately. He looked so beautiful.

"Don't give up on me." I said, my voice coming out in a soft whisper. I smiled at him, reaching out and running a hand through his hair.

I then turned, leaving him stunned on the porch and went into the night. I couldn't help it, but I was grinning as I got into my car, my heart fluttering.

* * *

Oliver

I stared after Felicity's car, the sound of it breaking through the night.

She had kissed me. She had kissed me.

I was careful not to disturb anyone as I went back into the house. I closed the door behind me, my brain still trying to wrap around what had just happened.

My face broke into a huge grin, and I punched the air in celebration. Jumping around, I ran both hands through my hair. I laughed.

Things had changed. Things had definitely changed between us. I leaned against the door, I could feel my grinned stretching ear to ear.

Felicity had kissed me.

* * *

**YAY! They kissed, things are heading in the right direction! It was only when they faced tragedy did they realize just how important they were to each other!**

**Are there any questions you still want answers to? Anything I need to explain better? Next we see Felicity talk to Sara and Ava, and give them a chance to explain themselves…**

**Also, I have another chapter told from Mia’s POV much like the first one, it talks a lot about her past and how she has been perceiving things since meeting Felicity. It would add an extra chapter to the story! Would that be something you would be interested in reading?**

**Let me know what you think! Happy New Year!**


	21. Witches

**I can’t believe that it’s already 2020, and we are so close to the end of Arrow, I’m really not ready.**

**But, I hope you are ready for this chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Felicity

I stood outside the door for ten minutes. I had gone back and forth, trying to make myself ring the doorbell.

They were your best friends. I thought, repeating it over and over, shoving the nerves down my throat. They would never do anything to hurt you. It's just Ava and Sara.

This was so confusing. One one side, they were the little girl who had shoved the fifth grader who had taken my lunch money, and the little blonde who had hugged me until I stopped crying. They were the girls I had loved that moment on.

We had spent so many hours talking since then. These were the girls that had helped me get ready for my first date, with Ray Palmer of all people. They were the same girls who laughed with me until we cried when I spoke so fast I made a fool of my self.

I had to believe in part of that. Otherwise I would have been so alone for the past fourteen years of my life. I had to believe some part of my friendship was true.

It had to be, I don't think I could stand it if all they had ever been to me was a lie. My heart was beating louder than normal and I knocked on the door.

I hadn't had to knock on the door in ten years, I was always allowed to walk right in.

Then I had to wait, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet. My mind spun, as I thought about everything that had happened in the past day.

What Oliver and I had done...

Despite all of my nerves and fears about what was to come in the next hour, I grinned at the memory of that kiss.

My heart was still jumping around in my chest, I had spent the night going over and over it in my head, and the next morning trying to push what had happened out of my brain. There would be plenty of time to think about Oliver later.

I needed to focus.

Ava answered the door. In the two seconds of stunned silence we took each other in. Her eyes looked like mine had this past couple of weeks. They were bloodshot and red, she hadn't been sleeping and crying a lot.

Despite their betrayal, despite the fact that they had lied to me my whole life... My heart still twisted at the sight at my broken friend. This was still Ava, one of the most kind-hearted people I knew.

So when she threw her arms around me, I hugged her back. "Felicity," She whispered, her voice clouded with tears. "I thought you were never coming back to us."

I didn't say anything. I just hugged her for a second. When she pulled back she was chewing on her lip. "Do you want to come in?" She took a step back, holding the door open for me.

I was still unable to speak as I nodded, holding onto my purse like a shield as I walked into the house. I felt like such a stranger, in the place I had spent several sleepless nights staying up laughing and talking.

I wondered where Sara was, and just hovered in the door frame to the living room while Ava nervously tugged on her sleeve.

"Who was at the door?" I held my breath as Sara rounded the corner. She looked as much the worse for wear. Her hair was all pulled up in a messy bun, something she absolutely hated.

I clenched my teeth as she saw me, trying not to let any emotion slip into my face. It was so quiet, as the three of us just looked at each other.

"So you came back," Sara finally said, breaking the silence as she swung around and threw herself down onto the couch, looking up at me with dark eyes. "Or should I say they let you out."

Ava gave a sharp intake of breath. But I knew her better than that, she was hiding hurt, masking her real concerns with bitterness.

"They're my family," I said, surprised at the coldness creeping into my voice.

Ava looked close to tears.

"I thought we were your family too," Despite all her effort, doubt and panic edged Sara's voice.

"My daughter, Mia." I said, real pain flooding into my voice, my hands were shaking and they both went pale. "All this time, you knew... You knew she was being raised without me, and you never told me."

"We knew you wouldn't have believed us," Sara said, her voice calm, trying to diffuse my temper that was building. "Or if you had believed us you would have freaked out."

"I did freak out!" I screeched at her, and the both jumped out. "But I got over it!" I stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm getting over it."

"Felicity," Ava said, moving as if to put her arm around me.

"But do you know what the worst part is?" I said, my voice winding up again. Britt flinched back, towards Sara who slowly stood and moved next to her.

"The worst part is," I stopped and laughed, hating the sound of it in my ears. "Through all this, all the pain, the realizations. I have been hurting so much these past weeks. I was confused, terrified and so lost. At first I thought I was going crazy! Did you know that? I showed up at their house convinced I was going to hurt myself. I just wanted one thing in my life to make sense. It's been like living in a tornado guys, and through all of that I clung onto one idea and that idea was that no matter how crazy things got I had two friends who loved me!"

The words continued to fall from my mouth, and I knew there was no stopping me.

"I trusted you two, I thought that I had to go thought this whole revelation alone, that no body could possible understand how I felt! Then to find out that you knew _the whole time_!"

I was shouting, loud enough to feel it start to hurt my voice. "You knew, you both knew and just let me go though all of that alone, when I needed the two of you the most! I lost my daughter, I missed out on _everything_! I never got to see my baby grow up! There was a man I loved, I had friends, and you never thought to help me, or say anything."

I couldn't keep up the shouting anymore, I stopped, taking deep breaths to try to calm myself down.

The two of them stared at me for a long second. Ava ran her hand through her hair, and collapsed onto the couch. Throughout all this time, Sara had not looked away from me. But in that moment she closed her eyes and sat down on the couch next to Ava.

"Why don't you sit Felicity." Ava said, looking much older. Her eyes seemed weighted down by the world, and it was such a scary look that I just did it without questioning.

I sat with my purse in my lap across from the two. I felt like the three of us were on trial, anything we said was going to be the verdict of where out friendship went.

"I kept watch on Laurel," Ava started, and I stayed silent, very aware of my own steady heartbeat. "I wasn't supposed to, they kept telling us that she had left us, she had chosen her exile."

"But she was out friend," Sara said, and I was struck again with how old they suddenly looked, even though they were still physically the same. "She was our friend and we couldn't accept the fact that she was gone forever."

"She seemed so happy though, she was in love. That was something we didn't quite understand at the time and it fascinated us, so we watched her through the years." Ava said, leaning forward, elbows on her knees and face in her hands. "We followed her, and through that we met you. We saw you get married and you being pregnant with Mia. You were always there in the background, just an unimportant figure.

He voice broke on that part and she buried her face in her hands. Sara wrapped an arm around her and spoke.

"When they killed you Felicity, we did what we could to try to bring you back for Laurel. We saw what it did to her, and we wanted to make it better. There is an old myth, so old even we didn't fully understand what we were getting into. We saved you but it brought us all here. We got the chance to start over."

"I don't want to lie to you anymore Felicity, at first we were angry." Ava spoke up. "We were babies, little girls with no power here on earth. We couldn’t go back to our coven, we had risked everything so we figured we might as well get to know you."

That hurt me, it hurt way more than I thought it might.

"But then we grew up with you," Sara and "Every year we got to know you better. You were our friend Felicity, it wasn't about Laurel any longer. Life on this earth, is unlike anything we could have ever imagined. We slowly stopped wishing to go back, and grew to love our lives here. We really did care about you Felicity. You are, our best friend" Her voice broke on the last words.

"Then why didn't you ever tell me, you knew what I had lost.” I said, no longer feeling like screaming. It was still overwhelming, when I though about all the vast amounts of unexplainable supernatural myths that had brought me to where I was today. I could think about it for years and still not fully understand.

"We are basically human now, we wouldn't have been able to find Oliver or Mia, and on top of that we didn't know how!" Sara said. "You were _our_ friend we were keeping from enormous amounts of heartbreak and pain. So we just tried to make sure you were happy, that you had a calm, simple life."

"There are no words to express how sorry we are Felicity," Ava pleaded with me. "I don't even think the words exist. If we had another chance to do this again we would have told you. We could have worked it out together."

"Right, because what we have now is fractured," I said, the words bitter and cold in my mouth. "We can never go back to the way things used to be."

Both girls faces fell, and my heart broke just a little bit. But it was just like things were with Oliver. No matter what, things were never going to be like they once were.

But I had learned my lesson about shoving people away. I had made that mistake with Laurel, Tommy, and Oliver, and here we were, set to try and build what we'd had up. Maybe I could just skip all the pain with these guys...

"So the three of us are going to have to work hard, and figure out where we go from here." They both looked up, and I was able to give them a small smile. "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

Surprisingly Sara was the first to stand and hug me, followed a second later by Ava.

As I hugged my best friends, I knew a great change was coming. I was going to get everything back, no matter how long it took, or how much work it was.

* * *

**I know it might seem like she forgave them quickly, but Felicity has always been extremely empathetic. Also, like she said, she needs people by her side, people who know and love her. Now they can talk about everything.**

**Also, people seemed really excited about the extra Mia chapter, so that will be next! It will be an extra chapter, bringing the total up to 27!**

**Let me know what you think of these three finally talking things out!**


	22. Fights

**Hello! I am back! I am so sorry for the break. I started a new semester and things were crazy while I settled into a new schedule!**

**BUT! This is the bonus chapter that I had SO MUCH FUN writting, and I think it’s the longest chapter in the story, so I really hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Mia

Despite what many famous philosophers have said over the years. I do believe that it is impossible to avoid fighting. It’s hardwired into the very DNA of every human on this planet.

While I might not be entirely human, that didn't exclude me. If anything I feel as if I received a double helping of whatever it is that drives humanity into these conflicts.

I had been in many fights across my lifetime, I had needed to learn to defend myself from a young age. These were just things that happened to me, if I was less prepared I could understand the fear that lurked in the hearts of victims of countless acts of senseless violence.

Over the years I have had many “the biggest fight of my life.” As I had grown up in a country that changed so drastically so fast, I’d had many moments that would for someone normal, define a life or generation.

One I kept finding myself thinking back to was what is now known as the Harlem Riot of 1935, for me had just been one of the countless “race riots” I had been a part of.

America at the time, though they did’t know it, was on the edge of another great and terrible war. Still in the midst of the great depression, people were terrified more prone to act out of desperation.

We had been living deep in the center of NYC at the time. We were part of the huge amount of people who had flocked to the city looking for work.

While because of the skills that my father and uncle had we never went a day without something to eat. In a huge city like New York however, it was safer for us to stick to the slums.

We needed to find a place full of people who were no stranger to hate.

So it was Harlem for us, a bustling culture all of its own. At the time Harlem was a place for African-Americans to try and fight against the system designed to keep them downtrodden and discriminated. We easily lost our selves in the beautiful culture and the people.

Here, where the people had so little and still so much to lose is where we found acceptance. Where neighborhood would meet on the streets to make watery soup that took away the hunger and the loneliness of they day.

The story that my mother was murdered gained the sympathy of the people. An older couple who was fortunate enough to own a tenement house, was able to rent us a flat that the four of us stayed in until my dad and Ben enlisted.

My father built houses for those not affected by the stock market. Tommy had joined in the craze that Henry Ford had started and spent all day building cars. Laurel had been taken up with a seamstress job and sewed clothes for everyone from Broadway to the Army.

I sometimes felt guilty about the little white lies we needed to spin into our past. The people around us were no strangers to hate and violence because they were different.had it so much easier than them.

Even with a dead mother, my skin was a universally accepted color and I had never wanted for anything in my life.

So I worked hard to earn whatever I could, that more often than not I poured back into the community. I grew to feel at home in Harlem, grew to love being accepted for who I was.

For the first time I was surrounded by people who had pain to share. Pain similar to mine that by working and sweating together we could start to move past.

I learned surrounded by the old and the young to sing the feelings I had always tucked into my heart. I leaned to stay by windows at night, or in churches on Sunday. Even now, written over and over across the years so I would not forget, were the lyrics to the songs and hymns I had sang all those years ago.

I had worked in a bakery, cooking flowery bread with every ingredient I was able to get my hands on. It was hard hot work that I loved as people came in and shared their stories with me.

Those were the years I’d had Theo.

Even now all this time later, while his face in my mind was starting to grow fuzzy, the memory of him was not. He was the first person I had loved that was outside of my family.

He would come into the bakery every Monday morning before we were even open to buy bread to sell down at the corner store that he worked at. It was a sign that a new week was beginning to see his face in the window as the sun rose.

From the very beginning Theo danced his way into my life. The sound of feet tapping out rhythms and melodies across the floor still brought a smile to my eye.

It had been almost a month before we even really spoke to each other. Before that I would just hand his loaves of bread over and take back the small amount of coins in return. It never went beyond “here,” and “thank you.”

One day though, after a small but sustainable fire, I running far behind schedule. I had sent my boss, a young single father who was raising his children alone after their mother left them, home to care for his youngest who had fallen ill.

As I finally put the first loaves of bread in the oven Theo's tapping feet could be heard down the sidewalk. After explaining to him what had happened, he hopped up and sat on the counter.

“No worries about it Doll,” He’s said with a flashing grin and sweet eyes. “I couldn't have more enjoyable company for the wait.”

I had grinned and been flustered, blushing under his gaze. So we had talked until the sun was far up in the sky. As I handed him his bread he tried to press more money into my hand than what he owed.

“You make sure this gets to your boss, alright? I know he needs it more than I do.” He grinned as he pulled on his coat. “I’ll be back to see you soon.” He promised as he tipped his hat and backed out of the shop.

He started coming back everyday around closing time. In turn I found myself going out after hours to the shop that he worked at. After midnight he was in charge of closing and cleaning up.

Those nights were some of the brightest I’d seen. We would turn on the radio and dance for hours, he taught me how to tie paper pages to my feet and slide across the floor.

He knew that my mother had been killed, and I knew that his father wasn't around. We were both parts of two cultures. Except his were black and white while mine were something else entirely.

I had been with him when the riot broke out across the city. We had both managed to get off of work that day and had eaten lunch together in a run down building that never the less had hot food and cold drinks.

I could remember being down by a house my dad was building. We had managed to find three cold bottles of Coca-Cola and had just finished delivering one to him.

By that point the riot had been well underway. The police had been called to the scene to quell the huge mass of people who were swarming and screaming. Theo had tried hard to keep me out of it, not knowing I had already seen so much violence in my life.

That I might be one of the scariest things out there.

At this point in my life I understood what they stood for. The disgust at how the world worked had driven the people to far, and the single spark that was Lino Rivera had driven them over the edge.

Theo’s arm had tightened around me when we saw the first person round the corner, sprinting at us. His face was swollen and bloody. I jump at the sight of him, and then the dozens of people who were running after him.

The police soon followed and before I could say anything we were both caught in the middle of over two hundred people, both cops and civilians alike. I was lost in a sea of screaming and noise, people showing me back and forth trying to get out of the way.

I tried to hold onto his arm but after a minute Theo was ripped away from me. I screamed for him over and over, lost in the endless sea of panic. I saw policemen arresting people left and right, using canes to beat and bloody ones who were close enough.

Someone tore at my shirt and I turned to see a the police trying to get to the man next to me. I tuned and began to run away, ensnared in the terror that had encapsulated the block. I was grabbed by the shoulder and hauled around.

A hulking red faced uniformed guard was screaming at me. With all the noise around me I couldn't hear what he was saying. I tried to pull away, crying out for anyone who could hear me or help me.

When he raised his arm, black club in hand my stomach had dropped. I froze, ensnared in another memory that I didn’t quite have, but one that had haunted me all my life. I whispered my mothers name before I closed my eyes.

Then there was a surge of people and both of us hit the concrete. The palms of my hands were bloody and people stepped over me and on me trying to move. I could feel him tearing at my ankles before some one grabbed me by the shoulder and hauled me to my feet.

“Theo!” I had screamed, and we had ran. He never let go of me, pulling me away, my wrist aching as I struggled to keep up with him.

“Mia!” There was another yell and then my father was there, grabbing me and running too. The three of us fought with the crowd before we were able to get into the doors of a church.

“Are you ok? Are you hurt?” My Dad kept asking me. I held one of my wrists close to my chest and stood there trying to catch my breath. I felt bruised and battered all over and my heart raced like I was still being chased.

I looked up to see Theo in the same position. His hair was mussed and his once white shit was covered in sweat, blood, and dirt. Someone, either a scared citizen or a police man had slugged him in the eye, it was already swollen up and turning black.

When he caught my eye he moved forward, pulling me to his arm and kissing me, careful not to move my hurt arm. I used my good hand to pull him to me, to cling to him and make sure that I wasn't going to lose him again.

Three people had died that day, all because of a misunderstanding. It was just one part of the countless acts of violence that just stopped surprising me after awhile. The rest of the week Theo and I had clung to each other, terrified that we would be torn away from each other again.

It was the first race riot I had been a part of, and the only one that wasn't completely voluntary on my part. Even after Theo was no longer a part of my life, I never could forget the look of fear on his face as he’d clung to me after the riot.

I never spoke up about my envelopment in marches that spanned the next few decades, not even to my dad or Laurel. I would simply say a few word to Tommy and slip out the door. When I returned with torn clothes or bruises and split lips I never said anything about where they had come from.

I didn't want any praise over what I was doing. Human decency shouldn't be rewarded by praise and well wishes. I did what I believed was right.

It also helped me combat that ever present fire that burned within me, the one that whispered in my ear to cause chaos and conflict.

As I had grown up I had never understood why I always seemed to be sucked into fights no matter where I went. It seemed to seek me out, problems and conflicts were over my solder all my life.

When I was three days old I had escaped a terrible fate. For some unexplainable reason I had not died alongside my mother. It made me feel as like I was always on the run.

You can be haunted by memories that you don't have.

The death meant for my three day old self was out there, because it hadn’t been able to get to me, it manifested in all other ways. No matter what I did or where I went, anger and chaos seemed to follow.

I never mentioned it to anyone. It was my burden to bear. How could I heap this on them, my father who had lost his wife, my uncle who told his wife everything, or my aunt…

Laurel could never know. If I was truly cursed, if something out there was out to get me. I would look no father than he own family. I had been raised on stories of the cruel and cunning witches. They had help throw Laurel down, screaming at her all the way.

Witches were tricky though, once Laurel was expelled they made no move against her. I believed that instead they had moved to the people closest to her, and my mother had died as a result.

Now pain and heartbreak followed my family where ever we went. I had grown used to the pain, the loss of my mother ever present, familiar even. When we found her it was the only time I had ever considered that I had finally outrun my past.

Then when we met the two of them, she had called them her _friends_, I knew that it had all been a clever lie.

Once again I saw the witches play a part in keeping me from her. Now however it wasn't so forthright.

Standing around that swimming pool watching Laurel scream, and then seeing my mother falling to pieces after being pulled from the pool.

Long gone was the outright attempt on our lives. Now they whispered in my mothers ears, building relationships that I’d never gotten to have. Securing a spot in her life where I never could be.

I found myself afraid.

Fear was normal, like fighting, it was not something that could be avoided if you wanted to be human. I had dealt with it in the past, never letting it interfere with my life. I let it keep me vigilant, one who is outrunning their death will appreciate life in a new way.

Now it whispered in my ear, and I found myself wondering, despite the fact that I had my mother back, if we were doomed to be torn apart again by the interference from the clouds.

Hate springs most readily from fear and anger, and I had never hated anyone so easily as I did the two witches who had managed to worm their way in to my life.

It was another secret I kept, albeit this one was not as important as the fact that I felt my death hovered over my shoulder where ever I went. I knew my father and Laurel felt similarly, but would give up if Felicity asked them to.

We all felt betrayed by the way that Felicity had wanted to hold onto her old friends, even after finding out what they were. At home it was easier, the four of us were good and keeping secrets.

Even around my mom it was easy to avoid the topic of her friends. The situation never arose where we had to voice an opinion, and a schedule worked out to where there was never a group of us together.

I had wanted my mother back.

-

It had been a normal day, about a week after the incident at the pool. I had been at school, running late to class, my shoes echoing down the empty hall as I ran. Rounding a corner I had skidded to a stop.

Sara and Ava. I avoided their names if I could. They might have looked like normal girls on the outside, but they were so much more on the inside. They were the monsters I had been raised to fear. They were the ones who had caused Laurel so much pain. They were the ones who had started all of this.

They had seemed surprised to see me. They had been leaning against the wall with their faces close.

“Mia?” The taller one looked at me with wide eyes. It was a look I knew well, it was one I got from Tommy, Laurel, and my dad all the time, she was looking at me and seeing my mom.

I didn't say anything, I didn’t want to. I tried to back up and go another way before one of them called out to me.

“Wait, please,” It was still the nicer one, Ava. She took a step towards me. “I know you might not want to talk to us.” She glanced at her girlfriend. “We _both,”_She emphasized, and Sara gave me an look and I knew she was holding something back. “We both wanted to apologize for what happened last week. We never meant for that all to happen.”

They looked so sad, and genuinely sorry.

All I could think about was Laurel screaming about being betrayed. Me holding her back as she had shook and screamed at the people she had once trusted. Then there was my mother, gasping for breath as she had clung to my father and cried out for me.

“Don’t say your sorry.” I spat. I felt years of anger and resentment building up within me. “Don’t you even try, after all you have done.”

The shorter one, Sara, had pulled herself up to her full height. The way she held herself, the fire in her eyes reminded me of Laurel, and there was an obvious power running right under the surface. I pushed my Aunt out of my head trying to raise myself up to be as tall as I could.

“Don’t try and make us the bad guys! We want what is best for,” The the next words she said carefully, like she was grinding them out through her teeth. “Your mother.” I stared incredulous at her, as her girlfriend tried to tug her away, shooting worried glanced at the two of us.

I laughed, It was short and full of malice. It almost hurt to be this angry and upset, like acid or poison was eating away at my heart.

“Don’t even try and pretend you are not the bad guys!” I snapped, working hard and not shouting and keeping my voice low enough to distract one of the classes that were going on around us. “You may try, you can try for years and years but it’s never going to charge what you are and what you did!”

“Sara leave her alone.” Ava continued to tug on her sleeve, and while Sara looked increasingly angry, she just looked more and more heartbroken.

“Go,” I told them. “You may have my mother fooled and nobody else will say anything but just know I see through all of it! I know what you really are.” I felt tears spring to my eyes, and I angrily wiped them away.

“Mia,” Ava held her hand out and took a step towards me, with a look of pity on her face.

“You are the ones who kept her from me, and I will never forgive you for that!” I turned and stormed away. My heart was beating loudly in my ears and I could not stop crying despite myself.

It’s impossible to avoid fighting.

* * *

**I love getting to see more of Mia’s POV, and a chance to stretch my history muscles! This was really fun for me to write, and to see how Mia is dealing with the reveal of Sara and Ava.**

**I think it’s important for someone to still be hurt, Oliver is so concerned with making peace with Felicity he was more willing to forgive them. Mia has such a subjective point of view, and as we see is super unwilling to speak up and share her feeling for fear of hurting the people around her. **

**What did you think of this extra side chapter! I can't wait to hear your opinion!**


	23. Names

**Ok, I confess… I was completely overwhelmed by my midterms. Grad school is kicking my butt.**

**So, I offer a soft happy chapter, also it will help with post finale blues!**

* * *

Oliver

Life was good.

Sometimes I had to stop and take a second to understand just how great things had been going. It was like traveling in a tunnel for such a long time, that when you get out in the sun, it hurts your eyes.

I will admit that I had really been worried that it would all fall apart. That Felicity would realize how much work it would take to rebuild basically her whole life. That I would say or do the wrong thing and scare her right into the arms of her old life.

But it seemed like everyone was fully committed. After the incident with Felicity and Laurel at the pool, the problems we had held onto no longer seemed important. We put them all aside, and focused on bettering ourselves.

We managed to get ourselves back into school, all of us, including Tommy and Laurel. We had to live normal lives. We had to keep up appearances, things had grown so far out of control that I was surprised we hadn't been visited by a town official.

So despite the complaining from all sides I had put my foot down. It had been really enjoyable though. Mia had two classes with Felicity and I got to watch her rehearse for the play.

The best part was after rehearsal, when Felicity would come back to the house and just talk to us. We would stay up all hours of the night just talking to each other, getting to know one another.

Her friendship with Laurel was gong well. They would talk and laugh, furthered along by the play they worked in together. She had gotten to the point where she would argue spiritedly with Tommy, and laugh at his jokes.

There was still an air of timidness and wariness surrounding then, but every day it grew weaker.

As for Mia and I, we were getting the chance to be a complete family for the first time. Spending time with Felicity was healing us, and bringing us steps closer to being a real family.

I could see the visible change that had taken over Mia. She had never been particularly loud or talkative, preferring to stay in the background. I had always accepted that, she was the closest thing to perfect I had even seen and I loved her for that.

I had done my best by her, and we had honestly thought that it was a good life. We simply made the best of our situation. She had always been happy, and I had always taken care of her.

But with Felicity it was like she transformed. She never seemed to stop smiling around Felicity, and she spoke with unbridled animation. It was like suddenly getting glasses after living your whole life without them, you never knew how good it could be because you had no reference point.

I would walk in on the two laughing and grinning and feel my heart swell with joy. The only thing that would throw Mia off was the three nights a week where we didn't have Felicity, the nights where she was with them...

I had been angry, when I saw how easily Felicity had forgiven her old friends. She now divided her time between them and us, Laurel refused to even go near them anyways. I wished that Felicity had been so easy to accept us, her family.

I had to admit to myself, they weren't the monsters Laurel and I had made them out to be. Felicity had sat down and explained to us everything they had told her. In their own twisted way, they had been trying to help.

But I had to get over myself, I wanted Felicity back. More importantly, I wanted Felicity happy, and if her old friends made her happy. I needed to swallow my pride.

There was a simple truth though. Felicity would not be with us at all if it wasn't for what they had done. So I made due.

Mia was having a tougher time than I was accepting them. I ran into her in the hall one day with her face bright red and breathing heavy like she had been yelling and fighting with someone.

I was shocked, this was my daughter, my little girl who was always calm and balanced. Who held me down when I got angry. When I asked her what had happened she just brushed me off. Told me not to worry about it.

When I had asked her again, she had become more upset. She had thrown her arms around me and hugged me. She told me she didn't want to talk about it. I had felt her shaking so I just hugged her back. We stood there for a long time before Mia pulled away, took a deep breath.

After that she was fine, throughout the next two weeks we never brought it up again. I wondered the details and often wanted to ask Felicity, but I knew Mia. She had her reasoning, and I trusted her.

Besides, I saw the look on Sara's face when we accidentally ran into them in the hall. This would just stay silent. I didn't want to upset Felicity, Mia, and the perfect balance we seemed to be living in.

So after that first week, I was able to just push it away. Things were just getting better and better. After that first kiss the night of the incident, I wanted to spend all my time kissing Felicity.

But we were still getting to know each other, we would talk and share stories. Without fail we would talk about Mia for hours. I had stories upon stories that she never seemed to tire of. She told me about growing up in this century, every so often she would reaffirm old memories that kept coming back to her.

Then every night after she said goodbye to Tommy and Laurel, hugged and kissed Mia, I would walk her out to her car.

She would always blush and look up at me through her eyelashes as we said goodnight. Then sometimes she would kiss me on the cheek, or I would pull her close and kiss her. But it happened every time, and it always was followed with the same phrase, the phrase she had taken from our daughter and now used as the symbol for our future.

"Have faith in me," She whispered in my ear, she grinned at me then got into her car and drove off.

Life was good.

* * *

Felicity

_I sat on the couch, leaning back and trying to find a comfortable position. My stomach stuck out and the sharp kicks to my ribs was a constant reminder of the little baby who would be mine in little less than a month._

_I was thrilled as I could be, despite my constant discomfort. Oliver and I were going to be parents. This child was going to be loved._

_Another kick made me wince as I shifted on the couch. "Hello sweetheart," I whispered, rubbing my stomach. "You're so very strong. If you continue this you are going to hurt me."_

_Regardless my heart swelled with affection. I was so very ready to be a mother. I loved my child so much, and I was yet to see their face._

_I leaned back, wrapping my arms around my stomach. I closed my eyes, hoping to have a chance to rest. I'd been having so much trouble sleeping, my baby was always active. The constant kicks and pressing on my bladder kept me in a constant state of restlessness._

_Pour Oliver, he tried to help during the night, but he more often than not would fall back asleep. But I didn't care, I had always wanted a family, and took every movement with a ounce of joy._

_The two most important people in my life. Oliver and my baby, I was at the point that my entire life revolved around. This was going to be my child, that I would love and cherish, that I would raise and nurture. I spent hours thinking about what being a parent would be like._

_I was desperately looking forward to watching then take their first step. To seeing them say "Dada" for the first time. I craved seeing Oliver love and raise our child. He was going to be a perfect father, having done more than I had ever expected for us._

_He was building us a house, our very own home. Earlier on in my pregnancy, I had gone out to see the frame of our new home. He had presented me with a crib that he had carved by hand._

_I loved Oliver so very much. "We have been blessed little one," I whispered to my baby. "You have a Daddy that loves you and cares for you so much. We love you and are going to do our very best by you, I promise. I will never abandon you, because I am your Mom and I love you."_

_I smiled and laughed at myself, I was still quite often moved into fits of emotion. But I just took it in stride, being an emotional mess was just a small price I was willing to pay to be a mother._

_"Felicity," I heard Oliver whisper as I felt him sit next to me. I opened my eyes and smiled at my husband. He wrapped his arm around me, helping me sit up. "Are you alright?" He asked with an adorable furrow of his brow. "Is it the baby?"_

_I laughed, putting my hand on his cheek and laughed at him. "I am fine Oliver, I am just tired. Our beautiful baby is quite active, I was just getting some rest when I could."_

_He relaxed and laughed, his hand moving to my stomach. I smiled as I watched him, his face bright and innocent as he rubbed my stomach. "Hello," He said, speaking to our baby. "I'm Oliver, I am your Dad, I cant wait to see you. You have a mom who loves you, and I will always protect you." He said with a light and joyful tone._

_Yet his words made me want to cry. I touched his wrist and when he looked up at me I pulled him to me and kissed him._

_He responded, grinning into the kiss, his arm sneaking around my waist and the other behind the back of my neck._

_When we were both breathless he pulled away. I grinned, leaning against him and relaxing._

_"So have you though any more about what we discussed earlier?" He said, entwining his fingers in mine._

_"Names for our child?" I asked, and he nodded. I looked down at my stomach, my free arm wrapped across it. "I was always told it was traditional for the father to pick the name."_

_"Not for us though," Oliver said aghast, looking shocked. "Felicity you are the mother of my child, Without you I would not be a father. I want you to have some say, the name is something we should pick together!"_

_I grinned at his impassioned speech. "Alright, something we both agree on." Though I believed it wouldn't be up to me I had come up with some ideas. "But let's hear it." I grinned at him, rubbing my stomach. "If it's a boy?"_

_Oliver looked abashed, he looked down and smiled. "I always liked the name William, Will for short." He looked at me to gauge my reaction._

_“William Queen," I tried it out. “William Tomas Queen," I suggested, looking at Oliver. I loved how passionate his idea was, enough to give up my vision of a little boy named Oliver Hudson the Second._

_He grinned. "You like it?" He asked excitedly. I love it because you love it, I thought, and nodded at him._

_His smile was infectious, and he splayed his hand across my stomach. "What do you think little one, are you our Will?"_

_How did I ever end up so lucky?_

_"I also have a name for if it's a girl," Oliver looked so overjoyed with the very thought it seemed to be breaking my heart. It simply wasn't large enough to contain all my feelings. So I just smiled, willing to let him live out this dream. The fact that I was making him this happy..._

_I didn't hear what he said, until he stopped mid sentence. "What name did you pick Felicity," He said, his now serious tone contrasting._

_"It doesn't matter Oliver, I want it to be the name you chose." I smiled, gripping both his hand tightly in my own. "You have given me so much. I love you, and I love how you care and love for our baby so much. If choosing the name makes you this happy, I have no objections, I love you and want to do this for you."_

_Oliver leaned forward, kissing my head. I leaned in and closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hand on the back of my head._

_"Thank you Felicity," He said, and I pulled away to see tears in his eyes. I hurried to wipe them away and he gave a weak chuckle. "I love you so much, I just want to make you happy. Can I at least hear the name that you chose?"_

_"Only if I get to hear your first," I amended. "I may like it Oliver,"_

_His face brightened. "Ok, well the name I picked was... Mia, after my mother.”_

_I was silent for a second, even my breath seemed halted. "That's beautiful Oliver, I love it." My voice was catching in my throat, and I wanted to cry. These hormones kept messing with me. It was perfect._

_"Now let me hear the one you like," He said with a small grin, "You can't back out of our deal."_

_I smiled. "Alright well the name that I found was, Donatella, we think alike you know…” I looked to see his reaction._

_He stopped, a shocked look across his face, an echo of what I was sure was me only a short moment before._

_Then we were kissing again, and one he finally pulled back I laughed. "You like it?" I asked, a schoolgirl flush across my cheeks. "Really?"_

_"Yes," He exclaimed. "Yes Felicity I think it's perfect!" We both laughed. "How are we going to decide?" He asked, stroking my cheek._

_"We could use them both," I suggested. "Use one of them as a middle name."_

_"Mia Donatella," Oliver said, then a huge grin spread across his face._

_"Mia Donatella Queen," I repeated, and it was perfect. "That's it," I wrapped my arms around my stomach. "I love you Oliver Hudson."_

_Then again, we were kissing._

* * *

** Yay! Sweet happiness! In the past and the present! That hasn't happened before! **

** Let me know what you guys think! We are getting close to the end! Anything you still want to see resolved? **


	24. Complications

**Here we go! Back into plot! We are so close to the end of this story I cant believe it!**

* * *

Felicity

“So I need to move pillar B after what line?” Mia said, flipping through several pages in her folder before looking up at me. “Do you have that Mom?"

"Sure," I sat down at the piano bench and played the simple melody. “the line is, we’ll make that one dream come true" I sang until I reached the chorus, pausing to look at my daughter. “Then there’s the music, lights go down, then you move the set piece.”

We had taken over on of the practice rooms in the theatre. I was teaching Mia all of her blocking, she was taking her role of crew very seriously.

"I like this musical," Mia said, her face serious as she read the sheet music from over my shoulder. "I remember when Jekyll and Hyde came out in 1886, it always scared me and yet I must have read it about twenty times. It's my favorite gothic novel."

"That's incredible," I said, smiling at her, amazed as always at how much history and knowledge my daughter seemed to posses. "I always was a Frankenstein girl myself, but the musical adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde has been one of my favorites since I was ten. I can’t carry a tune but I knew I had to be in it.”

"Now you get to!" She grinned, sitting next to me on the bench. “Can I copy down some more directions?"

“Sure thing,” I said, hands spanning the piano as I picked out simple melodies half remember from childhood piano lessons.

“It was really nice of you to let me help so much, even thought I wasn't a part of the crew in the beginning.” Mia smiled at me.

“I have some pull with the stage manager, and besides, I really love getting to spend time with you.” I did not even try to hide the pride in my voice. When we rehearsed with other people it was hard to treat Mia like just another student, like she was just a friend of mine.

Even though people had begun to notice something was changing between Oliver and I, and everyone was abuzz about it behind our backs. That still wouldn't quite explain my extreme closeness with the one whom people thought was his little sister.

I was a teen mom, and my kid was also a teen... It made my head hurt sometimes trying to think it through, but to keep my their secret and to keep them safe, I needed to treat them like normal students.

Times like this were nice though, when it was just Mia and I alone. My nights were filled with her Oliver, and trying to build that bridge up. I wanted to know everything about the both of then, and was often wishing for more hours in the day.

“I think I could sing Once Upon a Dream, as many times as Ive heard Kara and Barry practice.” I asked.

“I’m sure you could.” Mia laughed, still studiously making notes in her folder.

I stopped messing around with the piano and looked at her. "Mia?" I asked, and she blinked and bit her lip.

"Sorry, just got distracted." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, she straightened the sheet music and waited for me to start playing again.

"Mia have you ever been in love?" I asked, getting my answer when her face fell, and she tried to smile.

I wanted to have the right thing to say to her even though I was hardly the expert in the field of love. "Oh sweetie it's ok," I said, wrapping my arms around her while she sniffled, laying her head on my shoulder.

"It was a long time ago..." She said, wiping her eyes. "I'm acting stupid."

"Don't say stuff like that," I said, brushing her hair out of her face. "When it comes to love the word stupid becomes obsolete. Why don't you tell me about him?” I suggested.

"His name was Theo," The name itself made her smile. "He was half black and half white, so most of society didn’t want to accept him, this was also smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression. The world could not have been more against him." She smiled at that point. "Through all of that though he never seemed to lose his smile."

"He sounds great," I grinned, yet my heart broke a little for this two kid who had been cast a terrible lot in life. "How did you meet him?"

"Tommy liked to go to this Barber Shop that was part of a drug store in downtown New York. Theo had several jobs there, he swept up hair, he shinned shoes, he delivered newspapers, and he restocked shelves." She stopped, and smiled. "Every time that we went down there he always made sure to slip me a piece of peppermint."

It sounded precious, and I stayed quiet as Mia continued to speak, letting her get it all off her chest.

"So people were ok with your relationship?" I asked.

"During the Great Depression we found out quickly the people with nothing were more likely to be kind to us, accept us even though we were different. We had enough to get by, but we pretended like we had less, and could help more people that way."

She smiled, lost in her memories. "It still wasn't easy, people could only accept so much. We used to meet in the drugstore at night, he would always sing to me as he cleaned up." He eyes brightened. "Once he took me dancing, oh Mom he was amazing, he loved to dance so much and was incredible at it."

She grinned, and I noticed her fingers tapping out a melody lost to me, one that existed in that different world, in that different time. I was glad that she had cheered up, but there was still one question burning on my tongue.

"So what happened to him?" My stomach twisted and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.

But Mia's face didn't fall, she just gave a small smile. "I live forever and he didn't, as special as he was to me, he had a much bigger purpose to fulfill in his life."

"So you broke up with him?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"No, he broke up with me actually." Mia smiled. "I had never told him what I actually was. For how much we cared about each other, he knew very little about me. I think he could tell that from the beginning. He thought I was a part of a group of teenage runaways, that Dad was actually my brother. I had planned on telling him, for his birthday. Three weeks before he enrolled in the army he told me he was going to leave, and never come back. He was such a brave soldier, and the Allies were lucky to have him."

My eyes were wide as I listened. "He died fighting in World War II?" I asked.

"No, he fought in two major battles before the war ended." She shook her head. "He fell in love with one of the Red Cross Nurses, they got married when they were still overseas. He worked for the army the rest of his life, had three kids and died quite happily when he was eighty-seven." She paused. "I kept up with him, he never knew, I wasn't bitter or angry. I just wanted to be sure."

"I can't believe it, how did you just accept all that." I asked, marveling at how calmly she was able to speak on the subject.

"It's been a very long time," She admitted. "That makes me wistful more than anything, what Theo and I had was sweet and special and innocent. I would not trade the experience for anything in the world. My memories of him are starting to grow a bit fuzzy. He was my first love..."

"There has never been anyone else?" I asked, amazed. She shook her head.

"There never needed to be, I was happy with my family. After Theo I was sad for a while, and am yet to meet someone else who is as special."

I admired the maturity of her mind. She was such an old soul, it went so against the image of the young girl sitting in front of me. I wanted to ask more question but the door opened, stopping our conversation.

"Can I crash your party?" The young sophomore Connor Hawke asked, sticking his head in and grinning at me. His grin grew wider and he went a bit pink when he saw Mia, who gave him a kind smile in return.

I nodded and he came into the room, grinning with his hands in his pockets as he tried not to look at Mia.

He was a good kid, he worked hard and was dedicated to the program, even though he was just an understudy. AlthoughI noticed he always seemed happier whenever Mia was around.

"I figured I practice a little bit, if you aren't using the piano,” He grinned at me.

"That sounds fine!" I said, grinning at him, trying not to laugh. "We can sit and watch," I offered. Mia nodded and grinned, trying not to chuckle as Ryder tripped moving out of her way.

He sat next to her on the bench, and they were caught up in a little conversation. Mia's face was bright and open and I felt a tightening in my chest. I wanted her to be happy, and I knew that Conner was a good guy.

I also had to remind myself that he didn't know I was Mia's mother. I wanted him to go though me, to be afraid of what I would do if he hurt my daughter. I had to excuse him for not asking me if this was ok, for just treating me like a friend. Because that's all I was to him... I was just Felicity, a friend, and not the mother of his crush.

“You ready to move some heavy objects?" I jumped as a voice sounded at my shoulder. I spun around.

“Hey Ray!" I moved over as he leaned against the wall. “Let me listen to Conner, then Mia and I will be ready to help you!”

We listened as Conner played the opening notes and I grinned at the sight.

My mind wandered and with a shock it landed on Oliver. I blushed as I thought of him, and one of the kisses that would happen before I drove home every night.

“You think if there was a horrible tragedy and Kara, Barry, and everyone else caught some rare form or laryngitis we could go on as all the characters?” Ray asked out of the blue.

“We were just talking about that,” I laughed. “I swear, I know everyones lines better than they do.”

“We have to know when to move stuff.” Ray nodded, them held out his hand, copying the dancing that Barry and Kara did when they were singing.

Rolling my eyes, took his hand, and we went through the movements of the dance, mouthing the words as Conner tried to keep singing with a straight face.

"Take me as I am…" The song ended and with a flourish, Ray dipped me.

I laughed at the absurdity, not seeing the shift in his expression as he pulled me back to my feet and kissed me.

I was so shocked I stayed frozen for the longest second of my life.

Wrong.

This was so wrong and I immediately stepped back.

“I’m so sorry Felicity,” Ray immediately apologized, scrambling back with his hands raised. “I should have asked, or said something, but in the moment we were dancing and…”

I nodded even though I really couldn't hear what he was saying.

Looking up I saw Conner was trying to pretend he hadn't seen anything, and Mia…

Her face was pale and as I met her gaze I saw the horror that crossed her face.

I wanted to be sick. I tried to think past the voice that was screaming at me.

Oliver.

Things weren't that simple, I knew I wasn't at fault. There were so many thoughts trying to cram themselves to the front of my brain. But I had to get out of there. So I shoved past a stammering Ray and took off running, not even stopping for Mia who was calling out after me.

Oliver, I needed to speak to him.

* * *

**YAY! I cant believe there are only three chapters left of this story! It means so much that there are still people are reading! **

**BUT! That doesn't mean there wont be drama before it’s over! HAHAHA! **

**Let me know what you thought of this chapter?!**


	25. Fathers

Y’all, I cant even begin to say how sorry. Long story short, I live in the USA and teach students in China via skype, so work these past few weeks has been crazy. All my students are okay! I am okay!

I am so ready for y'all to read this chapter! Short intro, I was inspired by all the Mia Oliver interactions in the crossover, and wrote a whole chapter of flashbacks… Yes, it means the cliff hanger will go on another week, BUT! The last two chapters can’t be separated this had to go here!

So enjoy something sweet!

* * *

_Oliver_

_I hovered over the counter of the store, and I enjoyed the smell of the corner store. I already had a small bag of brown sugar and a sack of sharp smelling coffee._

_I glanced down through the glass display I was leaning against. Several long bone handled knives gleamed at me. Tommy elbowed me, gesturing to the knives._

_"What do you think?" He asked, "Do you think we need one?" He grinned, throwing his voice glancing over his shoulder at Laurel. I smirked._

_"Don't you even think about it!" Laurel scowled, striding over to Tommy's side. "I forbid any more weapons in the house, we already have enough." Tommy just grinned at her, and her face slipped into a small smile. She never stayed mad at him for long._

_The man behind the counter though, shot Laurel a disgusted look. But when he saw me watching, he composed himself. He walked away from the three of us, shaking his head._

_It was eighteen fifty-six, and almost all humans expected Laurel to be a docile and quiet woman. Felicity had the manners drilled into her from birth._

_Long into our marriage, I had always been trying to convince her that we were equal. I wanted a partner, not a side kick._

_I stood up, done leaning against the counter. I brushed dust of my grey suit jacket and straightened my sleeves._

_"Anything else we need Oliver?" I came out of my trance to see Laurel looking at me expectantly._

_She had a smart navy dress on, her hair expertly fixed and her flowered hat shading her eyes. She looked like the perfect woman, and people admired her until they heard her speak. The honesty and candor that she spoke to her husband and I went against every social norm people expected her to follow._

_So we had been shunned, people treating us like the shopkeeper. Sometimes they were even worse, calling her terrible names. I could see it begin to wear on her at this point, her eyes were heavy._

_I was highly for Tommy punching the next person who was rude to her._

_"A box of nails, and some fresh timber." I replied, "Something I can use to patch the roof, then we can head back home."_

_"Yes, we have all of that." Tommy said with a shrug. "Anything else?" He looked slightly bored and yet there was a tenseness to his shoulders from all the side comments we'd had to endure. All of us going into town for a shopping trip was not exactly our idea of a fun afternoon._

_But a huge thunderstorm was supposed to be rolling in and I needed to fix the roof. I could not have Mia sleeping in a room with leeks._

_"Aunt Laurel!" Mia cried out, running from the back room. Her braids flying and the bow of her green dress coming undone. She had a big bolt of sky blue fabric clutched in her little hands. "Can we get this for a new dress?" She smiled up at her Aunt, who grinned and laughed._

_"Ask your father Mia, if he says yes I have no problem with it." She grinned down at her niece, Laurel was wrapped around Mia's finger, they both absolutely adored each other._

_"Daddy!" Mia turned to me and started running, only to be swooped up by her uncle. "Uncle Tommy, stop it!" She giggled, as he caught the bolt of fabric and set it on the counter. "I am trying to talk to Daddy!"_

_He grinned at her then sat her back on the ground, where she sprinted over to me. She halted, then looked up at me and smiled. The picture of innocence, also the picture of someone who wanted something. I grinned down at her, trying not to laugh. "Yes ma'am?" I asked._

_"May we get a bolt of fabric for Aunt Laurel to make me a new dress please?" She asked, in a perfectly polite voice and her bright smile. She took manners and etiquette very seriously._

_I grinned. "I guess if you insist," I said, and she clapped her hands._

_"Thank you so much!" She said, turning and running to the counter. "Excuse me sir?" She called out, and like ice flooding in my heart I saw the shopkeeper look down at her._

_"Yes?" He asked, and to my immense relief she didn't seem to notice his annoyed tone._

_"I would like to add this to the order that will be sent to my house please," Mia continued on, in impeccable manners. "I would be very grateful," She said with a nod of her head, she turned her bright and beautiful smile on the man._

_There was nothing like being on the receiving end of Mia’s charms, but his expression remind stony, and Mia’s grind slipped as she glanced at me with a confused expression._

_My jaw was clenched, and I didn't speak because I didn't trust myself to say something civil in front of my daughter. I turned to the man behind the counter as Laurel flew into action._

_The moment Tommy started forward she grabbed him by the arm, making sure she had a tight grip on him. Then she stepped forward wrapping her arm around Mia. "Come on sweetheart we can go to the Print Shop, "_

_Mia still looked heartbroken, but glancing at me let Laurel lead her outside. I could hear her worried voice asking what she had done wrong as the door swung closed. I wheeled on the man, who had the decency to look frightened._

_Still not trusting myself to not rip this man's throat out, I slammed the money down on the counter. He warily took it and began counting it out._

_"You understand that it's not proper," He spoke, and when I opened my mouth to yell he continued. He was braver than most, normally people just whispered behind our backs._

_"No listen to me man, your daughter is picking up bad habits. If you don't have your brother fix his wife now, he's going to need to take more drastic measures."_

_He shook his head and I was not able to anything but shake with rage. As if bashing Laurel wasn't enough, he had the nerve to start in on Mia._

_"Your daughter is traveling down the same path! This is something her mother should have taught her. Children should be seen and not heard, she's going to get in trouble acting this way." He pushed the change across the counter. "Fix her, believe me, it will make her better."_

_I slammed my hand on the counter and grabbed my money. It would only take a second to grab the man and make him pay for what he said about my daughter._

_But I was a Dad, and I had to think about Mia first. Whatever I did would have consequences, and I could not risk letting anyone know what we really were._

_So I just walked away. I was at the door when I stopped, my fist clenched so hard my knuckles hurt. I turned and looked the small-minded man right in the eye._

_"Her mother is dead." I made sure the glass cracked as I slammed the door behind me._

_I blinked as I stepped into the bright sun, I looked around until I saw my family standing by the carriage house. Tommy was smiling and speaking animatedly to Mia, but his eyes were still cool. Laurel held a tall glass of lemon water she had purchased by a peddler._

_I caught her gaze and she nodded, she then caught Mia's attention and turned her to see me._

_"Daddy!" Mia cried out, and came running to me. I crouched down and wrapped her up in a big hug, kissing her hair._

_All my anger seeped away. "Did you find anything at the corner store?" I asked, grinning at her._

_She grew serious, biting her lip and glancing over her shoulder. "I got this," She reached a hand into her pocket and pulled out several pieces of peppermint. "I don't want Uncle Tommy to see," She whispered conspiratorially and I just grinned. "You can have one though," She said, pressing one of the pieces in my hand. "Just don't tell! I love you Daddy!"_

_She grinned and went back to the carriage, her uncle helping her up into it. I watched her and let out a deep breath._

_No matter what happened with us, Mia made everything better. Already she had the sweet centered spirit of someone much older. She was kind, but held a deep understanding of the way the world worked._

_Laurel was giving me a questioning look, and I shook my head. This was not the first time something like this happened, nor would it be the last._

_She just gave me a week smile before Tommy helped her up. Then he turned to me and clapped me on the back before jumping up to the front to drive us home._

_I climbed into the carriage, and was met with Mia clambering to sit next to me. "Daddy, I also got this!" She showed me her new copy of A Christmas Carol, her current favorite book. "I bought it all by myself!"_

_She smiled up at me, and I could do nothing but smile at her. She reminded me so much of Felicity, so proud and sure of herself. But Mia was her own person, like a steady flame. She was always able to forgive, but she never forgot._

_"That's wonderful Sweetheart," I said, ruffling her hair then I wrapped an arm around her. "Would you read it to me?" I asked. Her face lit up and she nodded._

_She opened her book and started reading and within ten minutes had fallen asleep. I shifted my arm so she would be more comfortable and watched her breathe._

_My daughter, my wonderful little girl. She was going to grow into such a lovely young woman. I missed Felicity like a missing limb, but I was going to do my best by our little girl. I owed it to both of them._

* * *

Yay for sweet family time! Also, who doesn't love a little period specific drama? (Just me?) I had a lot of fun taking a step back from the main narrative, also spending time with tiny Mia, who I wish we had seen more of in the show!

NEXT! We only have two chapters yet! Felicity and Oliver have a talk that has been a long time coming! Can’t wait for y'all to read it!

What did you think of this flashback chapter!?


	26. Confessions

Well, here we are,almost the end! I hope this can bring you just a little joy during this crazy time!

* * *

Oliver

I pulled my glove off with my teeth and swore, trying to get the splinter out of my hand. I sat down on my workbench and sighed, brushing the hair out of my eyes.

The set for the musical was done, so they no longer needed me to build. But my passion for carpentry had been awakened, and I now spent all of my free time building things for my family.

So our garage had been turned in to my own personal workshop, and I was loving every second of it. I threw a sheet over my latest finished project and pulled out a bottle of ice water from the fridge.

I checked my watch and was surprised by the time, I still had about another hour before Laurel, Mia and Felicity came home. I had been so focussed that I had finished ahead of schedule.

I was happy for all of them, it was great to see them all pour their respective talents into one giant project. Mia talked about it all the time. My new favorite pass time was to help her and Felicity run lines, or watch them talk about the show.

There was a growl of a car engine, and I turned to see Felicity’s car pulling into the drive way. I shaded my eyes and saw that she was alone, sitting in the front seat and staring at me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, grinning like a fool as Felicity opened the car door. She stood by her car for a second, looking around at the mess I had created.

"We got let out early," She said with a smile as she walked into the garage. Her purse was slung across her torso and she held on to the strap tightly with both hands. "Mia is helping Laurel with some last-minute stuff, they will be back in a bit."

Something was off about her, Felicity was acting solemn and somber. Those were traits I would never associate with her, even when we'd had troubles she was always brimming with energy and passion.

I raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to do, or what was wrong. Felicity caught sight of me and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry," She said, her tone softening, she bit her lip and shook her head. She then smiled, not as bright as usual, but it made her look more like Felicity. "I've had a long day, and I shouldn't force any of that on you."

She still didn't look ok, but I decided to drop it. This was spontaneous time that I got to spend with her, and I would never do anything to mess that up.

"It's fine," I said with a smile, becoming aware of my grimy shirt and messy shop. "We can go inside if you want," I offered, standing and moving towards the door.

"No that's ok," Felicity said, sitting on a bench I had finished up the other day. She still was holding on to her bag like a shield. "Just keep doing what you were doing, I'll just watch." She grinned, and I didn't challenge her.

I didn't know what to say, so I turned around and grabbed a broom. The silence wasn't terrible, and after a minute I was able to relax as we both sat there.

"Did you make this?" Felicity asked, looking at the bench she was sitting on, I saw her look around the garage and see all the other things I had created in the last week, the side table, the flower box, the shelf. "That's incredible."

"Yeah," I said, sheepishly. "You know I like building things, I always have." She grinned, both of us a little shell-shocked that we could refer to our old lives with such ease.

Felicity looked around, trying to find a more comfortable topic."The male understudy Conner, he likes Mia," She said with a small smile, that made me pause.

"What?" I asked, this was not a more comfortable topic.

"Yeah," She said, the idea delighting her. "He was trying to flirt with her before rehearsal started." She looked up and saw my face. "He's a good guy Oliver, he's a little goofy, but very kind and lovable. He'll be good for her."

I bit my lip, and nodded, making Felicity smile even wider. I didn't understand how she could be so calm about Mia and this kid. I didn't even know him, I would have to check him out tomorrow.

"It's just," I started, trying to find words. "She's my little girl, and we are different from most people. I want her to be happy, I just tend to think about the future more..." I trailed off when I saw Felicity's lip trembling.

I cut off mid thought, I was clearly on the edge of what was bothering her. So I stopped, I was not going to be the one who made her sad. No, no more talking about relationships, or the future... That was too much, and brought up things we were in no way ready to discus.

"Come look over here," I said, trying to pull her out of her mood. "I just finished this today." She composed herself and followed me to the sheet covered object. "Look," I pulled of the sheet.

It was a rocking chair.

"Do you remember this?" I asked her, watching her face. She looked confused as she ran her gaze over the chair. She reached out and ran her hand across one of the arms.

Then her eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Is this my rocking chair from the nursery?" She whispered. "The one you made me for Mia?" She smiled, in amazement, her face soft as she looked over it in wonder.

"It's not the same one," I added, smiling at the look on her face. "I just replicated it, Mia used the first one until it was too old to work. I had notes from the original design so I made this one so you could have a chance to use it, you never really got to the first time."

"You built me a house too," Felicity said, her voice breaking and slipping back into the sad tone she'd had when she'd shown up. She was gripping the back of the chair. "Back then, it was when I was pregnant with Mia, it was going to be our first home, I never go to see it because you said sawdust would be bad for the baby."

I stared at her in shock, blindsided by the sudden change of subject. Felicity looked like she was about to have some sort of meltdown. Whatever had been bothering her was clearly hurting her. "Felicity,"

"Ray kissed me," She said, biting her lip. "It was before rehearsal and wewere joking around, running lines from the show, and when we were done he pulled me close and we kissed. After a second I pushed him away and ran here."

I blinked, a rush of white noise filling my brain.

* * *

Felicity

Out of all the terrible things I had done, this felt like the worst. Oliver looked like I had just punched him in the gut.

I had felt like I was going to explode, guilt making me crazy. I was such a terrible person. I had fled here to tell Oliver, but then I had seen him and I couldn't do it.

He had looked so happy to see me, so at peace and so comfortable just sitting with me. I had caused him so much pain lately it wouldn't be fair.

So I sat there, and for one second I was able to suppress it, we just talked about our Mia and were happy.

But he then showed me the chair, and I knew it was something I could not keep inside.

So I had spilled my guts to him, and now things would never go back.

My jaw was trembling, but there were no tears. I couldn't cry over this, and I looked down at the floor. I waited for Oliver to say something, to yell at me,

Oliver swallowed, his jaw clenched, and when he spoke it was carefully controlled.

"Well," He stopped, and took a deep shaking breath. "Well, I told you a while ago that I don't expect anything from you, so if that's something you want to pursue, I will step aside." He nodded and turned back to his bench, picking up a piece of wood and some sandpaper.

His face was perfectly stoic as he sat down and began sanding the board, and I stood there for three full minutes before he looked up at me. "You can sit back down," He gestured to the rocking chair, still exerting extreme control over his voice. "I want to know more about the boy that likes Mia,"

I gaped at him. "What?" I whispered, sounding even more hysterical in compared to his eerily flat tone.

"The guy, you said his name was Conner?" His flat eyes met mine and I lost it.

"No!" I shrieked, "That's not it Oliver, we are not going to skip this! You need to be angry at me, you need to be hurt and you need to yell!"

He took a deep breath and I could see I had put a chink in his armor. "Felicity, I'm not going to stop you from living your life, I just want to be happy."

There, his voice wavered at the end. I moved forward, until I was right in front of him.

"Your my husband Oliver, or at least you were at one point!" My voice was growing louder and louder. He sucked in a breath, his jaw clenched. "You have a right to be upset, _you_ have a right to be happy to!"

"Felicity," He said sounding so tired, but the dam had broken in my chest and there was no stopping me.

"You just grin and bare it, you put Tommy, Laurel, Mia and I above what you want. I see you do it Oliver, you change what you want to make me happy!"

He stood up so fast it surprised me. He just stood in front of me, hand slightly shaking. "What else am I supposed to do?" He asked, and that stopped me dead in my tracks. He still had not raised his voice, and stayed calm.

I blinked, reaching into the depths of my heart. Emotions built with in me, and with the monumental weight of what I was discovering.

"I want you to be happy too," I said, my voice dropping and sounding raw. I bit my lip, trying to process all of the thoughts running through my head.

The past few weeks had been great, and I had gotten used to the comfortable and safe routine. I had taken advantage of that, using Oliver to be with Mia and keeping him at arms length.

But when Conner had kissed me, it had rattled me down to my core.

"I'm done with dancing around the edge of this." I said, and he looked at me, his brow slightly furrowed. "No more of this holding each other at arms length to make me happy Oliver. I don't want you to have faith in me and I use that as an excuse for nothing to happen between us."

He looked so nervous and shocked, like he didn't want to hear what I was going to say next. "Felicity," He started.

"I want you to believe in me because you trust me, and not because of some chivalrous duty but because you love me and I love you too!" I said, not denying it anymore, the walls in my heart crumbling down forever. "I love you Oliver Queen and I want both of us to be happy, and I want us to be happy together."

I stood there and waited for his response.

* * *

Yay! A happy ending for all! I really hope you have enjoyed this story! Let me know what you think about it, please!

Next, how does Oliver respond? How do they move forward from this!? Its finally the end and I’m so happy for this journey!


	27. Beginnings

_ **Once upon a time, the story came to an end…** _

* * *

Felicity

I stood there for what seemed like forever, looking at Oliver and waiting for him to respond. He seemed to be in shock and my heart began to beat louder and louder. I had just poured my heart out to him.

This was monumental, I had come to grips with something so amazing. I loved Oliver, I loved him. I wanted to be with him all the time. I wanted to live with him and my daughter, to be a central part of their lives and to love them for as long as my heart was beating.

Oliver continued to stare at me. I realized neither one of us had spoken for several minutes. My hear continued to race as panic poured into my blood stream. What if I had waited to long, and Oliver's feeling for me had faded. What if...

Before I could even finish my thought he had pulled me two him and was kissing me. I made a small gasp of surprise and felt him smile into the kiss. He pulled away and I saw with joyous amazement that he was laughing.

His face was so bright, and the lines around his eyes were wrinkled. I smiled up at him. "I love you Felicity," He laughed, kissing my forehead. "I love you so much,"

"Really?" I asked, beaming like a child. I put my hand on his heart, comforted even more by the racing and steady beat.

"I never stopped you fool," He said with such adoration that the tease was null.

Then he pulled me to him and we were kissing again, more frantic and desperate than before. My hand grabbed on to his shirt. I was not going to let him go. I had missed him, I thought as he bit my lip and my other hand tightened in his hair. He had been an ever-present missing limb in my life, and I truly must have been a fool not the notice.

My breath was heavy when I pulled back again, kissing Oliver on his jaw line. "So what do we do now? How do we progress from here?" I asked.

"Don't worry about any of that now." He said, keeping his arm around me, out faces only inches apart. "We have all the time to figure that out."

He looked so happy, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He couldn't stop smiling and it was making me giggle.

"Stop," He said, joining me with small laughter. I wish he had looked like this more often in the past few weeks. I wanted to do whatever I could to keep his smile on his face. "I missed you," He said, pulling me even closer and burying his face in my hair.

"I'm so sorry Oliver," I said, letting go of his shirt "I am so sorry that it took so long. We could have been together from the start. I just wish..."

"Felicity stop," He said, taking both of my hands. "I love you, and we can work all of this out later. But I have wanted to kiss you for almost two hundred years, we can talk later.”

“I don’t want to feel guilty anymore,” I told him and he had the common sense to look properly shamed. “All of these circumstances out of our control, I know all of you have been hurting and I understand that, but I’m done feeling bad, I want to be happy.”

“Okay,” He agreed, not quite meeting y eyes, still looking vexed. “I’m sorry Felicity.”

“Be sorry,” I ran my hand through his hair. “Be sorry then love me,”

I grinned and threw my arms around him. We were kissing again, making up for all the time we had missed.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me up until only the tips of my toes were touching the ground. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

I had him back, the father of my daughter, the only man I had ever loved. I kissed him deeper and deeper. He sat me back on the ground and wound both of his hands in my hair, giving me little kisses all over my face.

“I don't know who is going to be happier, me or Mia.” He joked, causing me to break down in joyful laughter. He stopped kissing me as I continued to laugh, and before two long he was laughing with me.

I looked up and saw the expression on his face. He was just smiling down at me, the lines on his face softening. He grinned and ran his fingers through my hair.

"I love you," I said, knowing I would never grow tired of these three words.

"I love you to Felicity," He said, and then he pulled me to him, and hugged me.

This was not better than the kissing, but it was almost as great. We just held on to each other for a while. For one of the first times in forever, a few memories flashed across my brain.

Memories of Oliver and I, all the best memories we had shared in the past, in our old lives. I held on to him tightly as the spun across my brain.

Then they stopped, the memory of me holding hours old Mia in my arms as Oliver hugged us both. I blinked as the sudden lack of memories made my head spin. I took a deep breath of Oliver's shirt, the smell making me smile all the way down to my toes.

The memories were over, I somehow knew that down in my gut. I could remember that old life, I could remember it quite well actually. The two most important things in my life had come from that era, the man I loved and my precious daughter, but it was over.

I had an entire life ahead of me, one I planned to spin with my daughter and Oliver. I needed to make up for all the time I had gone without them.

My heart swelled with the love of my family, and I shivered with anticipation.

"What?" Oliver asked, breaking our embrace, holding me at arm's length, and looking at me with worried eyes. "Felicity?" He asked.

"We have our second chance," I said, grinning up at him, cursing myself when my eyes filled with tears. But these were different tears, this was me, being so full of joy it was escaping through my eyes. "We have a chance to be together, a chance for me to be with Mia. Oliver we can be a family."

He pulled me to him and we were kissing again. He had lifted me again so we were the same height, and we both stumbled backwards into the wall. He covered my head as things fell, but we did not pull apart.

After several minutes of joyful frantic kisses, there was the sound of a car horn. We sprung apart to see Laurel's car pulling into the drive way. Mia was sitting in the passenger seat.

I glanced up at Oliver, his hair was slightly messy, so I reached up and ran my hand through it. He grinned at me, and caught my hand, entwining his fingers with mine and holding on tightly.

From the look on Mia's face, she hadn't seen us kissing. She looked pale and nervous, and kept biting her lip.

Poor girl, I felt terrible that she'd had to worry about us so much lately. It was time for her to go back to being a girl. It was now our time to take care of her.

Laurel noticed us before Mia did, as she was too consumed in her thoughts. I locked eyes with Laurel, and she smiled at me, her eyes lighting up. She blew me a kiss, whispered a few words to Mia and got out of the car.

She headed the long way around the house to go in the front door. Thank you, I mouthed to her, she winked at us and rounded the corner. I loved her, my oldest best friend.

I let go of Oliver's hand and took several steps toward Mia. She was looking down at the floor. "Mia?" I called out to her, she looked up.

My poor sweet girl, her brow was furrowed and she looked so worried. "Did you guys fight?" She asked to my shoes.

"Mia," I said, moving forward and pulling her into my arms. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her head into my neck. "Shhh, it's ok Mia." I whispered to her, laughing just a bit. "We're not fighting, everything is fine."

"Really?" She asked, looking up at me, her face a true mask of confusion. "But what about Ray?" She asked.

"Mia," Oliver said, and she looked over my shoulder at her Dad. "I promise, we are fine." I glanced and saw he was smiling at her. Oliver knew Mia so much better than I did, and she seemed reassured by his glance.

She looked even more confused than before, and kept looking back and forth between us. "So what's going on?" She asked.

"Well I just told your Dad that I loved him," I said, trying not to laugh at the shocked expression on her face. "I also want to spend the rest of my life with him, and be a real part of this family."

Mia's eyes filled with tears, and she smiled looking back at Oliver. "Really?" She asked,

"Really, this is happening Mia." Oliver said, running his hand through his hair. "We don't have all the answers yet but we are going to work on it, together.

Mia gasped and the brightest smile spread across her face. She sprinted from my side into her Dad's arms. "I love you guys so much." She said, her grin infectious and bright.

Oliver laughed and hugged her. "We love you too."

I watched them for a second, Mia seemed overjoyed. She was animated and was talking to Oliver, using her whole frame to show her excitement. This was all mine, wonderful caring Oliver and a beautiful daughter.

"Mom," I focused to see Mia holding her hand out to me. "Come here," She smiled at me and with a questioning look I took her hand.

She pulled me in for a huge hug. "I love you Mom," She said. I had been doing so well, but at that point I burst into tears.

Happy tears, because this was one of the best moments of my life, and I wasn't just me. Both Oliver and Mia had tears running down their faces as well.

Without another word, Mia wrapped one arm around each of us and pulled us close. With Mia sandwiched between us I threw my arms around the both of them and hugged my family, resting my chin on Mia's head.

Oliver joined us, and kissing my cheek whispered one more time. "I love you Felicity."

This was my future, this was my family.

* * *

_ **Wow, I can’t believe that after almost 10 months we have reached the end of this story! It was something I had never considered, finishing something I had started ages ago. But my love for the characters and the potential of storytelling pulled me in and this story was the result. Especially amidst everything going on the ability to share art is helping keep us sane and human.** _

_ **I love Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Mia Smoak-Queen, Laurel Lance, Tommy Merlin, Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe. I am so glad I got to spend this time with them, learning and exploring their characters!** _

_ **Lastly, MY READERS! Wow, every week I had people faithfully reading my words, faithfully commenting, and that brought me so much joy! Know that if you ever left a kudos or a comment that it stuck with me for days, inspiring me and cheering me up** _

_ **As I leave you I encourage you to check out my other works! Maybe you will like other things I have written! Also, one last chance to leave a kudos or a review (I would love to get to 75 reviews) ! I love you all!** _

_ **The End** _

**Author's Note:**

> I can't wait for you to see what happens next! What did you think?! Leave a comment! Please!  
-AC


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